About 1832 Freeman Porter entered into a brief partnership with his brother Allen before setting up his own shop. The 1850 census specifies that his shop employed four workmen, relied on horses as his source of power, and specialized in manufacturing teapots.

Technical notes: The body is spun, composed of two sections fused together at the base of the midband section. The metal handle retains traces of ebonizing. The lid, attached by a three-part hinge, has an air vent, and its finial is soldered on.

Related examples: Churchill 1992, p. 9.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.