COFFEE-POTS AND TEAPOTS. LATE GEORGE III PERIOD.
(By courtesy of Messrs. Crichton Brothers.)
A page of teapots and coffee-pots of varying periods of the eighteenth century shows the styles in vogue (illustrated [p. 255]). The upper group shows a coffee-pot about 1730 with ebony handle, and rather smaller than some of the later forms. This may be compared with the Newcastle coffee-pot, of 1737, showing similar character ([p. 243]). This really is the established form of the coffee-pot, which has lasted to the twentieth century, in spite of various deflections in style which were only transitory. By the last quarter of the eighteenth century it had become more ornate in character. Its decoration was rococo in style, and it became massive and impressive in size. It will be observed that in the specimen of about 1775, on the right, the festoons had become a prominent form of ornament. The handles in both these larger and later types are broken, with a point on the lower half turning outwards. The Edinburgh example of 1769 (illustrated [p. 321]) shows the same character.
An illustration of a fine coffee-pot with the London hall-mark for 1741 is given as a [Frontispiece] to this volume. It was made by Peter Archambo, and bears his initials
in script in an oval, broken shield. The lines of this example are of exceptional grace. The proportions of the body are well balanced. The circular foot with its fine gradations adds a lightness to the design. The lid is of fine proportions, and is terminated by a plain cone ornament giving height to the piece. The handle is of ebony and of pleasing curves. The shaped spout has a terminal ornament of baluster form joined to the body, which produces an effect at once original and exquisitely harmonious.
This example is produced by the kindness of Messrs. Carrington & Co. It belongs to the stormy years of George II and the war of the Austrian Succession. Frederick of Prussia had seized the rich province of Silesia, as one of the claimants for the dominions of Maria Theresa of Austria. Carteret came into power on the fall of Walpole. “What is it to me,” he said, “who is judge or who is bishop? It is my business to make kings and emperors, and to maintain the balance of Europe.” In 1743, at the Battle of Dettingen, was the last occasion an English sovereign was in the field, until His Majesty George V broke that precedent by visiting the British trenches in Flanders.
The lower group on [page 255] belongs to the late George III period. The coffee-pot and teapot on the left belong to the same set. The flat, spreading knob to the lid is a form of ornament which succeeded the long-established baluster form and continued with variations to modern days, and is found in cheap Britannia metal teapots for common use in early nineteenth-century days. The others on the right exhibit novel features. The spreading mouth of the pot surmounted by an overhanging lid is a form which was readily seized by the potter. Some of the early Staffordshire teapots, notably those by Wedgwood, are in this style, as it was an easy shape for the potter to work. The spout, apart from its position low down on the body, is especially a potter’s form. The coffee-pot at the top, in urn form, with its long foot to give it the requisite height, is uncommon and did not long survive. The teapot beneath it has a stand, another innovation adopted by the potter.
