England, London, Chelsea / c. 1755
Hen and Chicks Covered Tureen on Stand
The Cleveland Museum of Art catalogs Hen and Chicks Covered Tureen on Stand as ceramic (England, London, Chelsea · c. 1755).
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.
A CLOSER LOOK
The museum identifies this ceramic as soft-paste porcelain and credits Chelsea Porcelain Factory (Britain, London, 1745–84).
The museum's collection notes: 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.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The Cleveland Museum of ArtHen and Chicks Covered Tureen on StandOriginal explanation based on the sources above. Images carry their own reuse terms.