Teapot, 1755–ca. 1800
Made in Stepney or Middletown, Connecticut
Pewter, 6 3/8 x 7 7/8 in. (16.2 x 20 cm)
Mabel Brady Garvan Collection, by exchange
1967.62
This teapot is one of the earliest surviving examples made by a New England pewterer. Although similarly shaped pewter teapots were imported from England in large quantities, pear-shaped forms such as this one were unpopular with eighteenth-century New England makers. This piece shows how styles and forms were transmitted from area to area. The Connecticut-based Danforths acquired the molds of New York pewterer William Kirby (worked 1760–93). This teapot and another by the Danforths were cast with the same mold Kirby used to create his teapots. Craftsmen reused pewter as well as pewter molds. Customers often brought their old or damaged pieces to pewterers who melted them down and recast them in newer, more stylish forms.
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