Caster

Date1750-1780

Artist/Maker Henry Joseph

MediumPewter

DimensionsOH: 4 11/16"; Diam (base): 1 13/16"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1991-591,A&B

DescriptionPewter caster or spice pot, probably for mustard, with a screw top; pear-shaped body bears an engraved crest with lion rampant and flower.Label TextSmall containers with unpierced covers are thought to have served as spice casters or pots. The earliest examples date from the last quarter of the seventeenth century and are characterized by straight-sided bodies and rather low covers. Spice pots continue during the first half of the eighteenth century with bodies assuming a baluster shape and their covers a domed appearance with a more pronounced finial and, as in this instance, a screw top. This example, marked by Henry Joseph, the prominent maker of export pewter for the American market, is rare as a marked London example, and it is undoubtedly among the latest examples of this uncommon form known. Notice how its top is finely engraved with a running arcade.Inscription(s)Unidentified crest of a lion rampant holding a rose in its forepaws engraved on a wreath bar on face of bodyMark(s)Touch mark "H I" within a shaped rectangle on underside of base (Peal MPM 2687). Cover unmarked.ProvenanceMr. and Mrs. Gordon Perrin. Purchased by Colonial Williamsburg from John Carl Thomas, Hanover, Connecticut.