An earthenware saucer and tea bowl printed in red on a yellow ground.  The saucer is printed with the Tea Party pattern. A different rural landscape pattern was used for the tea bowl.  The popular 18th century Tea Party design reappears on both printed and printed and painted underglaze earthenware in the first quarter of the 19th century.  While the couple’s apparel has changed to reflect the style of the period and, perhaps, their different social class, the African or Indian servant and the faithful dog are still present in these scenes.  It wasn’t until July 1833, that a Bill was passed to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire. So the presence, here, of the African servant on this example, would not necessarily be considered out of place.  Robert Maling, as well as Shorthouse, Thomas Fell, Scott (Southwick Pottery), and William Smith also produced versions of this pattern.  Examples of the Robert Maling version are also included in this exhibit.

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