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Mustard pot
Dutch (Delft)
about 1745–50
Object Place: Europe, The Netherlands
Medium/Technique
Tin-glazed faience earthenware decorated in polychrome enamels and gilding
Dimensions
8.7 cm (3 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Rita and Frits Markus
Accession Number1983.602a-b
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsCeramics – Pottery – Earthenware
DescriptionThe barrel-shaped mustard pot has a flat cover with an aperture for a spoon and a small, pointed finial. The continuous decoration on the pot depicts a rural landscape with ruins and figures. The remains of a tall, yellow wall stand amid shrubbery and trees. To the right of this a man wearing a knee-length coat and a hat pushes a small tiller. The scene continues with the remains of another yellow building, this one on the left bank of a pond. A stack of wood rests beside the ruin. At the far end of the pond a building is visible among the trees, and beyond this are forested hills. To the right of a tall tree on the right bank of the pond two men walk side by side, one dressed in a yellow cape, the other in a mauve coat and carrying a yellow sack on his back and a walking stick in his right hand. Both men wear blue hats and knee boots. A building can be seen in the hills beyond, and a fence is on a rise to the right of the men. The sky is filled with blue clouds. A triple row of horizontal ribs is molded in low relief around the top and bottom of the pot. Two of the ribs at both top and bottom are painted in red in imitation of roots with fine lines and knots. A garland of green leaves is looped around the ribs. The cover is painted with two small ruins in a wooded landscape in the same palette as the pot. Gilt and rust-colored, almond-shaped lozenges decorate the finial.
Marks
(1) in blue on underside of cover: unidentified mark
ProvenanceUntil 1983, Rita and Frits Markus, New York and Chatham, MA; 1983, gift of Rita and Frits Markus to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 18, 1984)