Ointment Pot

CultureEnglish
Titles
  • Ointment Pot
Datec. 1700–1750
Made inEngland
MediumTin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
Dimensions2 × 2 3/4 in. diameter (5.1 × 7 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.59.134
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Murphy Room
On view

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Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Delftware is a variety of earthenware with tin oxide added to its lead glaze formula to give an opaque white effect that was often used to imitate, or at least suggest, the appearance of Chinese porcelain. First produced in England in the late 1500s, delftware grew in popularity in the 1600s as potteries flourished in London, Bristol, and elsewhere in the British Isles. Delftware was relatively soft and chipped easily. By the mid-1700s, more durable soft-paste porcelains and salt-glazed stonewares grew in popularity; by the early 1800s, delftware production in England had declined dramatically.

An ointment pot was mainly used to store oinments, and sometimes used for cosmetics and dentifrices to clean teeth.


Provenance[John Kenneth Byard (1905–1960), Silvermine, Norwalk, Connecticut]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1959; given to MFAH, by 1966.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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