Stirrup cup
ca. 1780
Medium
Lead-glazed earthenware
Dimensions
Height: 5 5/8 in. (14.3 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Pottery
Culture
British, Burslem, Staffordshire
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of R. Thornton Wilson, 1942
Accession Number
42.52.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
This elegant stirrup cup, created around 1780 by Ralph Wood the Younger in Burslem, Staffordshire, captures the lively spirit of late Georgian British ceramics. Standing just over five inches tall, the lead-glazed earthenware vessel was designed for a practical yet sociable purpose: a quick drink of wine or brandy offered to riders before a hunt. Wood’s family workshop was renowned for its inventive use of colored glazes, which brought warmth and character to everyday objects. The cup’s modeled face—likely that of a fox or hare—adds a touch of wit and personality typical of Staffordshire pott...
About the Artist
Ralph Wood the Younger · 1748–1795
Ralph Wood the Younger was born in Burslem, Staffordshire, in 1748, the son of the celebrated potter Ralph Wood the Elder and a member of a family that stood at the center of the Staffordshire ceramics industry during its most creative and internationally influential period. Growing up in the workshops of his father, he absorbed from childhood the technical traditions of English earthenware produc...