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Figural spill vase

1830–70
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774
The middle of the nineteenth century witnessed a proliferation of relief-molded earthenware covered with an allover mottled brown enameled glaze. Often referred to as Rockingham ware in homage to similar ware first produced in England on the property of the marquis of Rockingham, many of the original molds and designs were brought from England by itinerant potters who fashioned these wares. Variations occur in the glazes by the means of application—dipping, sponging, or splashing—and with the addition of colored oxides. Relief-molded pitchers were the most common forms, but slip-cast animal figures such as a recumbent cows, lions, poodles, and deer, were also popular. This figure of a reclining doe was likely intended as a mantel ornament. The hollow tree trunk behind the doe was used to hold paper or wood spills for lighting candles or oil lamps. The piece is covered in an overall mottled cream and brown flint enamel glaze, commonly known as Rockingham glaze.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Figural spill vase
  • Date: 1830–70
  • Geography: Made in Bennington, Vermont, United States
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Earthenware with flint enamel glaze
  • Dimensions: 8 3/4 x 11 in. (22.2 x 27.9 cm)
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Helen Hay Whitney, 1944
  • Object Number: 45.35.32
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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Covered slop jar, United States Pottery Company or American, Earthenware, American
Covered slop jar
United States Pottery Company
Lyman, Fenton & Co.
1849–58
Figural spill vase, Lyman, Fenton & Co. American, Earthenware with flint enamel glaze, American
Figural spill vase
Lyman, Fenton & Co.
1849
Figural spill vase, Lyman, Fenton & Co. American, Earthenware with flint enamel glaze, American
Figural spill vase
Lyman, Fenton & Co.
1849
Recumbant cow, Lyman, Fenton & Co. American, Earthenware, American
Recumbant cow
Lyman, Fenton & Co.
1849–52
Standing lion, Daniel Greatbatch British, Earthenware, American
Standing lion
Multiple artists/makers
1849–52

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