Plate
ca. 1760
Medium
Glazed earthenware
Dimensions
Diameter: 9 5/8 in. (24.4 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Pottery
Culture
British, Staffordshire
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Russell S. Carter, 1944
Accession Number
44.39.25
Art Historical Context
This elegant plate exemplifies the "Whieldon type" of ceramics, a hallmark of mid-18th-century Staffordshire associated with master potter Thomas Whieldon (1719–1795). Produced around 1760, it measures 9⅝ inches in diameter and crafted from glazed earthenware—a durable, low-fired clay body coated with a glossy lead glaze that allowed for vibrant, affordable decoration. Whieldon's factory innovations made such pieces accessible to the growing middle class, bridging utilitarian tableware and artistic expression during Britain's burgeoning Industrial Revolution. The plate's significance lies in ...
About the Artist
Whieldon type
**Whieldon Type: Pioneers of Colorful Staffordshire Earthenware** Whieldon type pottery represents the work of anonymous Staffordshire potters active in Britain during the mid-18th century, roughly 1740–1770, who produced innovative lead-glazed earthenwares that brought vibrant color and whimsy to everyday tableware and ornaments. Emerging from the fertile pottery district of Staffordshire, these...