Hen and Chicks Covered Tureen on Stand

c. 1755

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maker

Chelsea Porcelain Factory

(Britain, London, 1745–84)

England, London, Chelsea

soft-paste porcelain

Overall: 24.8 x 34.9 x 25.7 cm (9 3/4 x 13 3/4 x 10 1/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1984.58

Location: not on view

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Did You Know?

Though the form of a soup tureen suggests a functional role at the dining table, such large, expensive porcelains were probably only used for decoration because hot liquids might have easily caused them to crack.

Description

The ceramic factory at Chelsea, located along the river Thames in western London, was Britain’s most renowned factory of decorative porcelain in the mid-1700s. Large tureens in the form of chickens or rabbits appealed to wealthy aristocrats, who took great care in developing specimen animal and poultry breeds on their country estates. The design for this particular tureen was taken from a popular seventeenth-century print by Francis Barlow depicting a farmyard.