Wall pocket
ca. 1765
Medium
Lead-glazed earthenware (creamware)
Dimensions
Height: 8 3/4 in. (22.2 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Pottery
Culture
British, Staffordshire
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Russell S. Carter, 1944
Accession Number
44.39.38
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming wall pocket, crafted around 1765 in Staffordshire, England, exemplifies the "Whieldon type" lead-glazed earthenware known as creamware. Standing at 8 3/4 inches tall, it was designed to be hung on a wall, serving as both a practical holder for small items like letters or flowers and a decorative accent for 18th-century homes. creamy glaze and likely floral motifs—evident from its plant-inspired tags—reflect the period's love for naturalistic designs, blending utility with elegance. Thomas Whieldon, a pioneering Staffordshire potter, and his workshop helped revolutionize ceramics...
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...