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Honey pot: C.231-1928

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Object information

Current Location: Gallery 27 (Glaisher)

Maker(s)

Production: Unidentified Staffordshire Pottery

Entities

Categories

Description

Slip-coated earthenware, slip-trailed in two shades of brown with three hounds chasing a hare, each enclosed in a frame formed by pairs of horizontal and vertical lines and short strokes

Buff earthenware, thrown, with an applied strap handle, coated with white slip, and decorated in two shades of brown slip under yellowish lead-glaze; base unglazed. The bulbous pot stands on a thick disk base. Its sides contract into a very short neck with a slightly everted rim. The small strap handle is attached to one side. The sides are decorated with four panels outlined by pairs of dark brown horizontal and vertical lines with paler brown strokes over them. Three panels enclose a hound and one, a hare., all running to the right. On the outside of the handle there are short horizontal strokes in dark brown slip.

Notes

History note: Occupant of a cottage who sold it for £8 to a dealer in Kent or Sussex; sold to Mrs Hemming, 'Little Bundles' near Tonbridge Wells; purchased from her for £60 which was paid to Mr Hemming on 12 June 1925 by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge

Legal notes

Dr J. W. L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Height: 14.8 cm
Width: 20.8 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

17th Century, Late
Charles II
James II
William III and Mary II
Circa 1670 CE - 1700 CE

Note

Label text from the exhibition ‘Feast and Fast: The Art of Food in Europe, 1500–1800’, on display at The Fitzwilliam Museum from 26 November 2019 until 31 August 2020:One-handled honey pot with three hounds chasing a hare. This late seventeenth-century honey pot would, originally, have had a ceramic lid to keep dust and insects out. It is a rare survival as they were easily broken, which explains why many were made in wood. Honey was used for remedies for jaundice, worms, and piles and in recipes for gingerbread and mead.

Pots of this shape are often described as honey pots, but could have been used for other purposes

Components of the work

Visible Areas composed of lead-glaze
Decoration composed of slip
Rim Diameter 13 cm

Materials used in production

Earthenware

Techniques used in production

Throwing : Buff earthenware, thrown, coated in shite slip, decorated with slip trailing in two shades of brown slip, and lead-glazed, except for the base

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: rectangular white paper label with cut corners

  • Text: 4547/Slipware one-/handled posset/pot/having 3 dogs/and a hare in brown on a yellow/ground./Drawn in fig. 50 of/Rackham and/Reed./b. from Mrs Hem/ming (Tonbridge/Wells June 12/1925
  • Location: On base
  • Method of creation: Hand-written in black ink
  • Type: Label

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.231-1928
Primary reference Number: 73333
Old object number: 4547
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Friday 27 November 2020 Last processed: Wednesday 13 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Honey pot" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/73333 Accessed: 2024-11-15 20:46:19

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/73333 |title=Honey pot |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-15 20:46:19|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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