Notes
This is a body fragment of a tin-glazed earthenware unidentified tableware. This ware is often referred to by archaeologists as delftware. The white coloration of the glaze was obtained by adding tin-oxide to a lead glaze. Against this white field, delft was most often decorated with hand painted cobalt blues. These wares mimicked more expensive Chinese export porcelain in both the white color of the glaze and the use of hand painted blue decoration. Ceramics such as these were produced in numerous locations in both Britain and Holland beginning in the seventeenth-century, though production continued through the end of the following century. Generally, delftware was supplanted as a fashionable ceramic for tea and tableware as the eighteenth century wore on, being replaced by both porcelains and newer British ceramics, such as white salt glazed stonewares and eventually refined earthenwares like creamware.
The small amount of curvature to fragment suggest the original vessel possibly had a larger circumference than a plate or dish.
Object Type
CeramicHas it Been Conserved?
No
Where Was It Found?
Project Site: House for Families [more details]
Material
Vessel
Manufacturing Technology
Form
Completeness
Decorative Technology
Decorative Notes
Blue trellis band 14.
Date
1600-1775
Country of Origin
Dimensions
35mm x 0mm x 50mm (W x H x L)
Illustration shows object in comparison to the size of a quarter
Weight
5.9 gram(s)
Object Number
1722729. TG V.6
DAACS Number
1722729
Project: House for Families
The structure identified as the “House for Families” on the 1787 Vaughan plan likely housed the majority of the enslaved population living at the Mansion House Farm for much of the second half of the eighteenth century. The building was in existence from circa 1760 until it was demolished in late 1792 or early 1793. The archaeological evidence for the structure consisted of a brick-lined storage cellar (44FX762/40-47) measuring roughly six feet by six feet. Historically the cellar served as a handy trash receptacle once it ceased to be used for its original storage function, and through extensive excavation has yielded an extremely rich assemblage of household refuse. The analysis of these remains offers the opportunity to study important aspects of the daily lives of Mount Vernon's enslaved community.
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