Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney.

Teapot

Artist Hester Bateman (English, 1709 - 1794)

CultureEnglish

Date1782-1783

MediumSilver | Wood

DimensionsOverall: 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. (9.5 x 9.5 x 24.1 cm)

InscribedStamped on bottom: HB (maker's mark, in script); Lion passant (sterling standard); Crowned leopard's head (London assay), g (date letter for 1782-83).

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number96.25.2.1

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, MMH, Dining Room

DescriptionThis teapot, which is part of a three piece tea service, is elliptical in form with an applied tapered spouut and applied wood handle which fits into applied sockets. The top is engraved with meandering leafage with bands of engraving at both the lip and bottom as well as a band of beading. The top is surmounted with an elliptical wood handle. Teapot body is engraved with an empty oval cartouche topped with a bow and trailing band of swagged vines of roses and leaves around the body and joining another oval cartouche engraved with a central crest as yet unidentified.

Label TextHester Bateman English (1708-1794) Teapot, 1782-83 Silver, 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 x 9 1/2 in. Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA Museum purchases 96.25.2.1-.3 Hester Bateman registered her own maker's mark with the London Goldsmiths in 1761 upon the death of her husband in order to continue his silversmith business. Bateman also trained her children to become skilled craftsmen, and by the 1780s the Bateman company held a solid reputation for high-quality, elegant designs. Hester Bateman continued working until her retirement in 1790 at the age of eighty-one, and was widely recognized as one of England's finest woman silversmiths. These objects are an excellent example of the distinguishing characteristics of her work: extraordinary craftsmanship that combines graceful line and classical simplicity. Exhibition History"The Art of the Silversmith: Silver from the Collection of The Chrysler Museum of Art," Norfolk, VA, April 17/18 - August 31, 1997. "Women of the Chrysler: a 400-Year Celebration of the Arts," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., March 24 - July 18, 2010. "Classical Traditions at the Moses Myers House," Moses Myers House, Norfolk, VA, April 17 - December 1, 2013.