Joseph Richardson, Sr.
Teapot

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Teapot
Datec. 1745–1775
Made inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumSilver
Dimensions6 × 8 7/8 × 2 7/8 in. (15.2 × 22.5 × 7.3 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.60.29
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Kilroy Center
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

The Rococo’s earliest American manifestation occurs in silver dating from the mid-1740s, approximately a decade before the publication of Thomas Chippendale’s The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director. This teapot is the most fully developed expression of the style in the museum’s silver collection. The earlier form has evolved into an inverted pear shape despite the fact that this configuration was less efficient for brewing tea. In Philadelphia, Joseph Richardson’s letters and accounts, as well as his surviving silver, provide insights into the integration of the Rococo style into Philadelphia, colonial America’s principal style center.

Technical notes: The foot, body, and lid are all raised. A ruffle is engraved around the upper handle socket. The handle is a replacement. The lid is vented and its finial riveted. 

Related examples:  Most closely related is Fales 1974b, p. 86, fig. 42.

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.


ProvenanceJoseph Morgan (1718–1804) and Sarah Mickle Morgan (d. 1775, m. 1745), Haddonfield, New Jersey; given to their grandson Samuel Morgan Reeves (1791–1886); given to his daughter Agnes Reeves Carter (b. 1840); [Howard “Harry” Arons (1906–2000), Ansonia, Connecticut]; [Israel Sack, New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1960; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Engraved on side: JSM [Joseph and Sarah Morgan]
Engraved on reverse side: 1762 [added later, its significance is unknown]
Underneath body: mark of Joseph Richardson [Buhler and Hood 1970, vol. 2 p. 284, nos. 843–847]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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

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