teapot with wooden handle and finial, Hester Bateman

Episode 136 Revised Nov-2009, Lauren Kernes I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. The Spencer owns a fine selection of early nineteenth-century silver works by the English partnership of Peter, Anne, and William Bateman. A silver teapot represents the personal style of the firm’s eighteenth-century founder Hester Bateman-refined, elegant, and utterly perfect. The vessel’s body has perfectly smooth sides, giving no evidence of a hammer’s blow. Adorning the mirror-slick vessel walls are repeated relief-line motifs and delicate engraved-border decoration. These organic and geometric borders envelop the teapot’s body, creating visual interest. The outstretched swan neck and fluted spout are balanced by the sweeping lines of the wooden handle on the opposite side. An egg-shaped, bone knob painted jade green sits atop the hinged lid. Set in a nest of silver palm leaves, the knob resembles a miniature pineapple-a symbol of hospitality. Hand-crafted silverworks were prized possessions of the wealthy during this period, emblems of prosperity and good fortune. With thanks to Lauren Kernes for her text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.