Teapot with landscape
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain with transfer-printed decoration
Dimensions
Height (with cover): 5 5/8 in. (14.3 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
39.140.35a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant teapot, crafted by the renowned Worcester porcelain factory around 1770, exemplifies the of British ceramic innovation during the 18th century. Made from soft-paste porcelain—a, European-developed alternative to true Chinese porcelain—the piece features transfer-printed decoration, a groundbreaking technique that allowed intricate designs to be mass-applied via engraved copper plates. The landscape scene, likely inspired by engravings from French-born artist François Vivares and Antoine Patel the Younger, depicts bridges and figures of men, evoking pastoral English countryside vis...
About the Artist
Worcester factory|François Vivares|Pierre Antoine Patel the Younger · 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...