Basket
ca. 1770–75
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain
Dimensions
3 1/2 × 10 1/2 in. (8.9 × 26.7 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
British, Worcester
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Luke Vincent Lockwood, 1939
Accession Number
39.140.132
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant porcelain basket, crafted by the renowned Worcester factory in Britain around 1770–75, exemplifies the height of 18th-century English ceramics. Measuring just 3½ × 10½ inches, it was designed as a delicate decorative object, likely for displaying fruit or sweets on a dining table. The Worcester factory, founded in 1751, rose to prominence by producing affordable yet luxurious soft-paste porcelain— a hybrid material blending white clay with ground glass, fired at lower temperatures than true hard-paste porcelain from China or Meissen. This innovation allowed for intricate molding a...
About the Artist
Worcester factory · 1751–2008
The Worcester porcelain factory, established in 1751 in Worcester, England, by physician Dr. John Wall and apothecary William Davis along with 14 partners, marked the birth of one of Britain's most enduring ceramic enterprises. Investing £4,500 at Warmstry House on the River Severn, the founders drew on contacts with the Bristol porcelain manufactory to develop a novel soft-paste porcelain using s...