Posset Pot with Cover

CultureEnglish
Titles
  • Posset Pot with Cover
Datec. 1720–1740
Probable placeBristol, England
MediumTin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
Dimensions7 1/2 × 9 in. (19.1 × 22.9 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.56.69.A,.B
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Kilroy Center
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. Metallic oxides provided a range of colors for decoration: cobalt for blue, manganese for purple, iron for red, copper for green, and antimony for yellow. 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.

Posset was a hot drink of milk or cream, eggs, wine or ale, sugar, and spices. Now all but forgotten, this relative of custard and eggnog was popular in the 1600s and 1700s, sometimes shared as part of celebrations, and sometimes taken as a remedy. The posset pot allowed one to drink the liquid by sucking it through the spout.


Provenance[D. M. & P. Manheim, New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, October 8, 1956; given to MFAH, by 1966.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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