Plate (Dinner plate)

Museum Object Number 1975.0087

Object Name

Plate (Dinner plate)

Title

The Ass & the Boar

Category

Ceramics

Credit Line/Donor

Acquired by exchange with Colonial Williamsburg, Inc.

Place of Origin

Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Date

1755-1770

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Label; Underside; Central label has in print lettering: "The Ass & the Boar"
2. Label; Underside; Circular sticker with white letters printed against a black ground: "Frances L. Dickson".
3. Label; Underside; A rectangular sticker has black print: "55-16/ Staffordshire/ c. 1760".

Subjects

Fable; Morality; Literary scene; Literature; Aesop; Aesop's Fable

Materials

Stoneware (salt-glazed); Salt glaze

Techniques

Molded, Printed, Enameled

Dimensions (inches)

1 (H) , 8.4 (Diam)

Dimensions (centimeters)

2.6 (H) , 21.3 (Diam)

Object Description

Web - 09/08/2014

The printed scene on this salt-glazed stoneware plate is taken from the illustration for Fable XIV ("The Boar and the Ass") in Samuel Croxall's book, "Fables of Aesop and Others." First published in London in 1722, the book included engravings by Elisha Kirkall (1682-1742) after earlier Aesop illustrations by Francis Barlow (1626-1704) and Sebastien Le Clerc (1633-1714) as well as Francois Chaveau's engravings for La Fontaine's "Fables" (1668). Red-printed sale-glazed stoneware plates bearing Aesop's Fable scenes have been excavated in Williamsburg, Virginia, at the Ravensport Site.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Article] Grigsby, Leslie B. 06//1994 Aesop's Fables on English Ceramics. Antiques. CXLV (6): 867-877.
• General coverage of theme: see also pls. VII (purple-printed) and IX (red-printed) for salt-glazed plates of this form.
[Book] Noel Hume, Ivor. Pottery and Porcelain in Colonial Williamsburg's Archaeological Collections. 2.
• Related objects: p.17.
[Book] Edwards, Diana & Hampson, Rodney. 2005 White Salt-glazed Stoneware of the British Isles.
• Color plates: 116, 117