Worcester Porcelain Manufactory
Sweetmeat Stand

Public Domain

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Maker Worcester Porcelain ManufactoryEnglish, established 1751

CultureEnglish

Titles

Sweetmeat Stand

Datec. 1770

Made inWorcester, England

MediumSoft-paste porcelain

Dimensions3 1/2 × 7 3/4 in. (8.9 × 19.7 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg

Object numberB.56.96

Current Location

Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens

Drawing Room

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

CERAMICS

DescriptionDoctor John Wall and three partners established the Worcester Porcelain Factory in 1751. The following year, the firm purchased the Bristol factory of Benjamin Lund and so acquired much technical know-how. The factory soon began producing good quality, thinly potted, and durable soft-paste porcelain that did not crack or craze in contact with hot liquids. It made large quantities of tea and coffee wares and decorative vases. The factory pioneered the use of transfer-printing, from 1757 in black and by 1760 in underglaze blue. In the 1770s, there was a rapid growth in the area of blue transfer-printed wares. Sweetmeat dishes in the shape of shells or groups of shells, like this one, would have served confections, sugared cakes or pastry, candied or crystallized fruit, and sugared nuts.
Provenance[Alfred Neuberger, New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, October 9, 1956; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

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