Limoges ewer
date: label: date made
content: c. 1880-1890
label: date made
content: c. 1880-1900
notes: label: Description
content: China painting swept across America in the late nineteenth century as one of the most prevalent decorative pottery techniques, especially among young women. Considered a respectable form of work and creative outlet for women, china painting incorporated the element of hand craft that helped elevate standards of design during a period of mass production and industrialism. The technique of china painting could be done conveniently at home or in large pottery settings. Also known as “mineral painting,” after its materials, a china painter used enamels, low firing colors produced from various mineral-oxides, as a “painting” medium on pre-fired porcelain white porcelain, also known as blanks. These blank porcelain pieces were often imported from European countries, France and Germany in particular, and came in a variety of dinner ware forms and vases. The china painting technique of decorating porcelain was popularized in America by the highly influential Englishman, Edward Lycett. Trained as a potter in the English tradition at Spode pottery in Staffordshire, England, Lycett moved to America in 1861, where he almost immediately gained prestigious commissions for the White House and Tiffany & Co. His devotion to experimenting with materials and teaching pottery techniques across the country established Edward Lycett as the “pioneer of china painting in America” during his own lifetime. Ultimately, the creativity fostered by the china painting movement and the influence of Edward Lycett launched the American ceramic industry towards new and exciting avenues of decorative pottery.
label: Description
content: This plain white porcelain ewer best exemplifies the imported French porcelain objects ordered by china painters in America. Known as a “blank”, this ewer was purchased with the intention of hand decorating it with mineral oxides or china paints. It would then be fired again in a low temperature muffle kiln that would melt the colors to the porcelain surface. The ewer’s Turkish-style form with its wide bottom and long, slender neck would have brought an exotic flair to the nineteenth-century American home.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: France: Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Limoges
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass
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content: Art
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Mrs. David Anderson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CE.393791ab
label: catalog number
content: 393791ab
label: accession number
content: 211929
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Ewer
label: Object Name
content: coffeepot
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: ceramic, porcelain (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 in x 6 in x 7 3/16 in; 30.48 cm x 15.24 cm x 18.288 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 11 3/4 in x 7 3/4 in x 6 in; 29.845 cm x 19.685 cm x 15.24 cm