White salt glaze stoneware saucer

Notes

This is a fragment of a white salt glazed stoneware saucer. This white bodied ceramic was produced by combining naturally white clays with ground and calcined flint. Undecorated teaware forms such as this item were generally popular between the first and last quarter of the eighteenth century, and would have been common items in American stores and homes.

Saucers such as this were essential for the consumption of tea within the households of the eighteenth century. By the mid-eighteenth century and later, tea drinking was a common practice within households of both high and low social and economic statuses. Brewing, serving and drinking tea required a variety of vessel forms. Saucers such as this were used in serving tea. Of course, despite originating as specialized vessels for tea, such forms could have been used to serve or drink a variety of other liquids as well. Such saucers could have served as small plates, or dishes for serving condiments to supplement starches in meals.

This vessel was catalogued from drawings because it is on display at International Slavery Museum, Liverpool.

Object Type

Ceramic

Has it Been Conserved?

No

Where Was It Found?

Project Site: House for Families    [more details]