Title
Teapot
Creator
Made in Staffordshire, England
Date
1760-1770
Label
#110
Teapot
Made in Staffordshire, England, 1760-1770
Made of Creamware (Lead-Glazed Earthenware)
Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by W. Groke Mickey
2019.29.1a,b
In the 1700s, pineapples were an exotic luxury and a symbol of hospitality in Europe and her American colonies. Real pineapples, either imported from the Caribbean or South America or grown at great expense in greenhouses, were enjoyed by wealthy European aristocrats, and ceramic pineapple-shaped teapots allowed their middle-and upper-middle-class owners to strike a playful, exotic and individualistic note on their tea tables.
But this sweetness had a dark side, as pineapples also symbolized European domination of the Americas and the fabulous wealth generated by slave-run sugar and pineapple plantations in the Caribbean.
This piece is on display in the European Ceramics Gallery.
Teapot
Made in Staffordshire, England, 1760-1770
Made of Creamware (Lead-Glazed Earthenware)
Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by W. Groke Mickey
2019.29.1a,b
In the 1700s, pineapples were an exotic luxury and a symbol of hospitality in Europe and her American colonies. Real pineapples, either imported from the Caribbean or South America or grown at great expense in greenhouses, were enjoyed by wealthy European aristocrats, and ceramic pineapple-shaped teapots allowed their middle-and upper-middle-class owners to strike a playful, exotic and individualistic note on their tea tables.
But this sweetness had a dark side, as pineapples also symbolized European domination of the Americas and the fabulous wealth generated by slave-run sugar and pineapple plantations in the Caribbean.
This piece is on display in the European Ceramics Gallery.
Credit Line
Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by W. Groke Mickey
Citation
Made in Staffordshire, England , “Teapot,” Museums at Washington and Lee University: Online Exhibits, accessed May 17, 2024, https://exhibits-museums.omeka.wlu.edu/items/show/273.