John Taylor
Posnet

MakerAmerican, active 1791–1813
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Posnet
Datec. 1791–1813
Made inRichmond, Virginia, United States
MediumBronze
Dimensions9 3/8 × 20 1/4 × 9 1/4 in. (23.8 × 51.4 × 23.5 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by Susan Neptune
Object numberB.2010.10
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Kilroy Center
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

According to an 18th-century dictionary, a posnet is defined as “a skillet, a kitchen vessel.” The form, which was little changed from medieval times, had three splayed legs and a long handle. It was well suited for warming or cooking at an open hearth. 

John Taylor’s name is cast into the posnet’s handle. Working in Richmond, Virginia, he made the vessel in the late 1700s or early 1800s. Taylor worked in a range of related crafts which, in addition to that of brass founder, included pewterer, gilder, iron founder, coppersmith, and bell founder. This posnet is one of a small number known from his shop. Remarkably, for an object that would have been exposed to harsh and frequent use, it has come down in such superb condition—apparently it was little used.

Related works: Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.


Provenance[Elliott and Grace Snyder Antiques, South Egremont, Massachusetts]; purchased by MFAH, 2010.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Raised stamp on the top of the handle: IN º TAYLOR × RICHMOND [see photos for exact marks, as there is a dot under the raised "o" and the "n's" are reversed]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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