Dinner Plate

CultureEnglish
Titles
  • Dinner Plate
Datec. 1740–1750
Probable placeBristol, England
MediumTin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
Dimensions1 × 9 in. diameter (2.5 × 22.9 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.50.7
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Ceramics Study 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. 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.

This plate depicts the figure of Justice triumphing over a figure holding a scroll inscribed "Placemen," the term given to members of Parliament who simultaneously held appointed government positions. Limiting or eliminating the role of placemen was an important cause for those who advocated for British Parliamentary reforms.


Provenance[Ginsburg & Levy, New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, October 23, 1950; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Exhibition History

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Dinner Plate
c. 1740–1750
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.65
Dinner Plate
c. 1740
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.41.1
Dinner Plate (one of a pair)
c. 1770
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.88.1
Dinner Plate (one of a pair)
c. 1770
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.88.2
scan of file photograph
c. 1750–1760
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.50.16
Dinner Plate (one of a pair)
c. 1770–1780
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.50.1.2
Dinner Plate
1691
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.59.89
Dinner Plate
1698
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.59.90
Dinner Plate (one of a pair)
c. 1760
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.100.1
Dinner Plate (one of a pair)
c. 1755–1765
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.42.2
Dinner Plate (one of a pair)
c. 1760
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.56.100.2
Dinner Plate (one of a pair)
c. 1760–1770
Tin-glazed earthenware (delftware)
B.57.97.2