Teapot

Description

The inscription on this teapot, "Eupham Scot Johnstone. 1685." was most likely added during the latter half of the 1800s by a family member. It commemorates the voyage of a young woman from Pitlochie, Scotland to Perth Amboy, New Jersey in the company of her parents, who perished during the journey. In 1685 Eupham [Euphemia] Scot's father, George Scot, Laird of Pitlochie, published his book, "A Model of the Government of the Province of East-New-Jersey in America..." and organized the passage for Covenanters dissenting Catholic rule in Britain, political prisoners, and debtors to establish new lives in Proprietorship land. The unfortunate ship, the Henry and Francis, sailed on September 5, 1685 and arrived December 7, 1685 in Perth Amboy but lost some 60-70 passengers to sickness during the overly-long voyage. Among those surviving was a druggist from Edinburgh, Dr. John Johnstone, who married the orphaned heiress Eupham in April 1686. By the 1690s, the Johnstones had become influential landholders. They raised thirteen children, several of whom followed their father into political and judicial careers. Very little is known of this matriarch’s personal life, but her descendants treasured the family teapot as a genteel symbol of her resilient role in establishing their longevity and participation in the colony. This is the only identified baluster shape teapot marked by Simeon Soumaine, Soumaine, also a refugee of French Huguenot heritage, who emigrated with his parents from London to New York sometime before April 14, 1689. It is likely he made this teapot during the 1720s and it was used by the Johnstone's daughter Janet Parker who married in 1721.