Plate
last quarter 18th century
Medium
Earthenware
Dimensions
Diameter: 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Pottery
Culture
probably British, Staffordshire
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1928
Accession Number
28.184.10
Art Historical Context
This elegant earthenware plate, created in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, reflects the innovative spirit of Staffordshire pottery in Britain. Produced in the style associated with Thomas Whieldon, one of the era’s leading ceramic pioneers, it exemplifies the refined yet accessible tableware that emerged from the region’s thriving potteries. Measuring nearly ten inches across, the piece showcases the practical yet decorative qualities of earthenware, a medium prized for its durability and versatility during a period of rapid industrial and artistic advancement. Whieldon’s influenc...
About the Artist
Whieldon type
Whieldon-type is not a single artist but a catalogue attribution used by museums for unmarked mid-18th-century Staffordshire earthenware in the manner of Thomas Whieldon (1719-1795), the celebrated English potter of Fenton Vivian. Whieldon perfected lead-glazed cream-colored earthenware streaked and dappled with metallic oxides - manganese browns, copper greens, cobalt blues - producing the mottle...