Description:

Sauce tureen from a dessert service, of molded form modeled with stylized flowers and swags in relief at collar, shoulder and foot, and with floral molded handles and knob.  The lid is notched for a small ladle.  The decoration comprises black printed conventional borders at the collar and foot and exotic scenes on either side, on the cover, and on the interior base.  On one side is a view of women at a well and a walled town in the distance.  On the other side, on the cover, and inside is a view of mounted horsemen by a ruined arch.

The black printed mark on the base reads “Views in Mesopotamia” which is found on a series of printed wares attributed to James Keeling.  The sources of many of these prints can be found in Travels in Mesopotamia by James Silk Buckingham, published in London in 1827.  However, the two scenes featured on this piece do not have direct source prints in this volume.  A copy of this book was listed in the 1828 catalog of the library of The Potteries Mechanics Institution, an adult education establishment founded principally by pottery owners for the benefit of the workers.