Back to search results

TEAPOT

Creator(s): Demidov Copper Factory (Attributed to)

Currently in storage


About this object

The rococo style reached Russia during the reign of Empress Elizabeth I and remained in favor into the early part of Catherine II's reign. In Russian metalwork, it is typified by scrolls enclosing cartouches, in this case depicting hunting scenes. Such genre scenes, copied from engravings, were particularly popular in northern Russia and in the Ural Mountains. The powerful Demidov family owned copper mines in the Urals and had begun selling wares in England by the mid-eighteenth century. This teapot was later sold through a London retailer, Thomas of Bond Street, in the nineteenth century.

Spherical form teapot on reeded circular foot with applied scroll-shaped zoomorphic handle and hinged lid. The surface of the teapot is engraved with a continuous design of rocaille cartouches, rococo scrolls and architectural elements that frame two hunting scenes: one scene depicts a wolf hunt, and the other illustrates a stag hunt. The domed lid is decorated similarly with four rocaille cartouches: one featuring a peacock, another cluster of fruit, the third - eagle, and the forth - a floral composition. The lid is surmounted by a globular finial on a shaped stand. The applyed curved spout with a griffin head has a round cartouche framed by the floral garlands and a shell motif applied to its underside. The handle is covered with woven wicker-work to provide insulation. The surface of the teapot is in patinated finish of dark brown color. The spout, foot, finial, border around the mouth of the main body, and the handle are gilded. The interior seems to be covered with a thin layer of tin that had darkened over time.

Object name:
TEAPOT
Made from:
Copper -- gilding -- tin -- cane
Made in:
Russia
Date made:
ca. 1760
Size:
13.3 × 26.7 × 15.2 cm (5 1/4 × 10 1/2 × 6 in.)

Detailed information for this item

Catalog number:
19.3
Signature marks:
mark "HR" with a dot in the middle for unidentified maker; Thomas 53 New Bond St London; o.r x - scratched stamp of a letr Enhlish importer
Credit line:
Museum Purchase, 2004