Teapot

Public Domain

ExpandFavorite

Maker Unknown American

Maker Allen Porter (American, c. 1799–1862)American, c. 1799–1862

CultureAmerican

Titles

Teapot

Datec. 1829–1842

Possible placeWestbrook, Maine, United States

Possible placeHartford, Connecticut, United States

MediumBritannia metal

Dimensions10 7/8 × 10 1/2 × 4 1/2 in. (27.6 × 26.7 × 11.4 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Mrs. James Walker Cain

Object numberB.71.96

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Metals Study Room

On view

Explore Further

Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

METALWORK

Description

Allen Porter is the earliest of Maine’s Britannia manufacturers whose work is known. He appears to have divided his time between Westbrook and Hartford until 1842, when he left New England for Racine, Wisconsin, to set up a cabinetmaking shop.

Technical notes: Concentric rings attest that the components were spun on a lathe.

Related examples: Antiques 32 (November 1937), p. 241; Churchill 1992, p. 7.

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.

ProvenanceMrs. James Walker Cain (Dixon Hill Cain), Houston; given to MFAH, 1971.
Published References Warren, David B. "A Selection of Nineteenth Britannia at Bayou Bend." The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Bulletin, n.s., 3, no. 5 (September 1972), p. 63; Butler, Barbara. "Pewter at Bayou Bend." The Pewter Collectors' Club of America 90–91 (March–September 1985), p. 13. Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

[no inscriptions]

On underside: mark of Allen Porter [Laughlin 1940, vol. II, pp. 109–10]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.