To Project and Serve: A Meissen Sugar Box and Cover, 1723-4

Sugar Box and Cover
Meissen, 1723-1724
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This sugar box and cover would have been one small part of a lavish coffee or tea set.  Created by Germany’s Meissen factory between 1723 and 1724, the panels of the box are adorned in the delightful miniature Chinoiserie designed that were typical of the decoration developed by a new arrival at the celebrated factory, Johann Gregorius Höroldt.   

Johann Höroldt joined Meissen in 1720.  He was known as an ambitious young man (when he joined he concern, he was aged only twenty-three) who had been induced to abandon his position at a rival porcelain factory in Vienna with the promise of improving his fortunes at Meissen.

Höroldt was credited as developing a wide range of rich colors which were new to Meissen and he is known to have created a series of “Chinoiserie” figural designs which were adapted for use on a variety of different wares.  Later, Höroldt was rewarded for his hard work when he became an influential force in the Meissen factory's administration and management.  He died in 1775.

The box is designed in an octagonal shape, painted in enamels and gilded with Höroldt’s Chinoiserie figural scenes.  One depicts a man seated at a table, the other shows a man seated--holding a baby or a doll.  The cover  of this sugar box is of architectural form resembling the pointed roof of a pagoda.

Unusual Artifacts: A Silver Cow Creamer, 1758

Unusual Artifacts: A Silver Cow Creamer, 1758

Creamer
English, 1758
Sterling Silver
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here, we see a sterling silver cream jug in the form of a cow. Such items are often referred to by the unsavory name of “spewers.” I don’t like that word, so, we’ll call it a “creamer.”

Creamers such as this came about as the British developed a taste for adding milk or cream to their tea in the mid Eighteenth century. This was considered to be a better alternative to drinking weak tea in the Chinese style. By the late Eighteenth Century, creamers had become an essential part of the tea service.

Taking a design cue from the literal, creamers were often made in the form of cows during this period. Most of the sterling silver examples from the Eighteenth Century bear the mark of John Schuppe, and were made between 1753 and 1773. This example was made in 1758.

Most believe that Schuppe was from the Netherlands where such creamers in the shape of a cow had already been quite fashionable for decades. All of Schuppe’s creamers follow the same basic design of a looped tail and a saddle-shaped lid with a finial in the form of a fly. Cream or milk is poured from the cow’s mouth.

These items achieves an enduring popularity and many are still produced by various manufacturers and in a variety of media.

Now, I must note, that in Twentieth-Century literature, Bertie Wooster (for whom my Bertie is named), the hero of the “Jeeves and Wooster” tales by P.G. Wodehouse, found such cow creamers quite disgusting and they figured prominently in one of Bertie’s adventures in particular. My Bertie Wooster, on the other hand, likes any vessel which is designed to hold cream and has no objection to them. 

To Serve and Project: The William Grundy Kettle, 1753

Tea Kettle
William Grundy, 1753
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Though we most often associate the act of drinking tea with Britain, tea wasn’t imported into Britain until the Seventeenth Century when it was used more as a mild stimulant or medicinal drink than just a beverage.

As the passion for China and things Chinese grew in Britain, tea became a fashionable and popular drink despite its high cost.  Before the fashion for “tea time” caught on, dinner was served around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, after which tea or coffee were often served.

Tea was always  made at the tea table by the lady of the house who employed an elegant silver or porcelain tea service. Tea kettles became popular at the beginning of the 18th century. At the time, these kettles often featured a small spirit lamp in the base to keep the water hot.  Servants used a tea kettle to bring the boiling water required for making tea from the kitchen to the tea table where it could be used by the lady of the house.

The sterling kettle and stand pictured above were made by William Grundy, who was apprenticed as a silversmith in 1731 and probably died before 1780. The engraved coat of arms is that of the Stacye family.

Until the 1730s, tea kettles (the costliest part of the tea service) were generally plain and unadorned, however, the influence of Rococo taste transformed kettles into a vehicle for extravagant ornament. This kettle by Grundy is chased with Rococo scrollwork and floral motifs.  Its domed lid is surmounted by an elegant finial in the shape of a bunch of grapes—a popular visual motif when this was made around 1753. 

Within 50 years, this kettle would have fallen into disuse, most likely replaced with a more fashionable tea urn.

Unusual Artifacts: A Silver Cow Creamer, 1758

Creamer
English, 1758
Sterling Silver
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here, we see a sterling silver cream jug in the form of a cow. Such items are often referred to by the unsavory name of “spewers.” I don’t like that word, so, we’ll call it a “creamer.”

Creamers such as this came about as the British developed a taste for adding milk or cream to their tea in the mid Eighteenth century. This was considered to be a better alternative to drinking weak tea in the Chinese style. By the late Eighteenth Century, creamers had become an essential part of the tea service.

Taking a design cue from the literal, creamers were often made in the form of cows during this period. Most of the sterling silver examples from the Eighteenth Century bear the mark of John Schuppe, and were made between 1753 and 1773. This example was made in 1758.

Most believe that Schuppe was from the Netherlands where such creamers in the shape of a cow had already been quite fashionable for decades. All of Schuppe’s creamers follow the same basic design of a looped tail and a saddle-shaped lid with a finial in the form of a fly. Cream or milk is poured from the cow’s mouth.

These items achieves an enduring popularity and many are still produced by various manufacturers and in a variety of media.

Now, I must note, that in Twentieth-Century literature, Bertie Wooster (for whom my Bertie is named), the hero of the “Jeeves and Wooster” tales by P.G. Wodehouse, found such cow creamers quite disgusting and they figured prominently in one of Bertie’s adventures in particular. My Bertie Wooster, on the other hand, likes any vessel which is designed to hold cream and has no objection to them.

To Project and Serve: A Meissen Sugar Box and Cover, 1723-4

Sugar Box and Cover
Meissen, 1723-1724
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This sugar box and cover would have been one small part of a lavish coffee or tea set.  Created by Germany’s Meissen factory between 1723 and 1724, the panels of the box are adorned in the delightful miniature Chinoiserie designed that were typical of the decoration developed by a new arrival at the celebrated factory, Johann Gregorius Höroldt.   

Johann Höroldt joined Meissen in 1720.  He was known as an ambitious young man (when he joined he concern, he was aged only twenty-three) who had been induced to abandon his position at a rival porcelain factory in Vienna with the promise of improving his fortunes at Meissen.

Höroldt was credited as developing a wide range of rich colors which were new to Meissen and he is known to have created a series of “Chinoiserie” figural designs which were adapted for use on a variety of different wares.  Later, Höroldt was rewarded for his hard work when he became an influential force in the Meissen factory's administration and management.  He died in 1775.

The box is designed in an octagonal shape, painted in enamels and gilded with  Höroldt’s Chinoiserie figural scenes.  One depicts a man seated at a table, the other shows a man seated--holding a baby or a doll.  The cover  of this sugar box is of architectural form resembling the pointed roof of a pagoda.

Unusual Artifacts: A Silver Cow Creamer, 1758

Creamer
English, 1758
Sterling Silver
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here, we see a sterling silver cream jug in the form of a cow. Such items are often referred to by the unsavory name of “spewers.” I don’t like that word, so, we’ll call it a “creamer.”


Creamers such as this came about as the British developed a taste for adding milk or cream to their tea in the mid Eighteenth century. This was considered to be a better alternative to drinking weak tea in the Chinese style. By the late Eighteenth Century, creamers had become an essential part of the tea service.

Taking a design cue from the literal, creamers were often made in the form of cows during this period. Most of the sterling silver examples from the Eighteenth Century bear the mark of John Schuppe, and were made between 1753 and 1773. This example was made in 1758.

Most believe that Schuppe was from the Netherlands where such creamers in the shape of a cow had already been quite fashionable for decades. All of Schuppe’s creamers follow the same basic design of a looped tail and a saddle-shaped lid with a finial in the form of a fly. Cream or milk is poured from the cow’s mouth.

These items achieves an enduring popularity and many are still produced by various manufacturers and in a variety of media.

Now, I must note, that in Twentieth-Century literature, Bertie Wooster (for whom my Bertie is named), the hero of the “Jeeves and Wooster” tales by P.G. Wodehouse, found such cow creamers quite disgusting and they figured prominently in one of Bertie’s adventures in particular. My Bertie Wooster, on the other hand, likes any vessel which is designed to hold cream and has no objection to them.