POSSET-POT AND COVER. 1683.
(With marks illustrated beneath.)
(At Victoria and Albert Museum.)
The bowl of Stuart days has an ogee outline contracted towards the mouth, giving it a pear-shaped form; this is common in porringers and posset-pots of the seventeenth century. In the example with the London hall-mark for 1662 the body is decorated with spheroidal swelling lozenges, giving character to the piece. The cover is plain, and heightens considerably the fine proportions, and is surmounted by a knob in baluster form. The handles are delicate and of gracefully curved form. The handles of the adjacent porringer, it will be seen, are flat. From 1653, the date of the Commonwealth porringer, to this latter small porringer, it will be seen that the handles are in a transitional stage. The upper half of the handle may be likened to a fanciful letter C, the bottom curve of which ends half-way in the interior of the handle, the handle being continued until it joins the bowl lower down. In the second example, 1662, the C stretches from the juncture of the handle with the bowl at the top to its juncture again at the lower end, the continuation of the handle below this is a slight additional outward curve. In 1669 the handle had become a letter S. The C form is slightly indicated by a break in the upper curve on the inside of the handle.
A comparison of the various forms of handle illustrated in this chapter shows that the C form in combination with the S form oscillated throughout the seventeenth century. In the elaborate posset-cup and cover of 1679 (illustrated [p. 201]) the S form would seem to have become established; but another example, 1683 (illustrated [p. 205]), shows the letter C again in strong combination with the letter S in the handle.
In 1685 the potter, we see, was troubled by no such fanciful problems. In the pot illustrated he makes a straightforward simple handle, best suited to his technique. Of the same date and illustrated on the same page ([p. 213]) is a fine James II posset-cup, and here the handle takes the form of the letter C, and again a second C for the lower half of the handle. By the year 1690 the letter S form handle in graceful curves had become established.
The illustration on [page 201] shows a posset-cup and cover, which is produced by the kindness of Lord Dillon. In date it is 1679 and the cover is 1660. The bowl is embossed with tulips. The handles are scrolled terms and cast. The cover is a flattened dome with plain flanged edge and embossed with tulips. The knob is a casting of four grotesque faces conjoined. Its height is 7¹/₂ inches.
This cup is stated to have been presented by Charles II to his daughter, the Countess of Litchfield. The marks are “London” and I. S. in shaped shield. Mark on cover W. B. in a heart.
It will be seen in comparison with the porringer of the date of 1666, illustrated on the same page, that the caryatides handles which are similar to early Italian metal-work, are part of the handle itself, and the female bust forms the swelling curve. Here in the first example of the posset-cup the head is set as though it were a thing apart and unconnected with the design of the handle in its entirety. In the lower example of the porringer the head actually becomes full face, and consequently is merely a meaningless survival of the older form and not an integral part of the design of the handle.