This piece was decorated mechanically, using a lathe. A lathe is a machine on which a round object, such as this sugar bowl, is spun and shaped or decorated against a fixed cutting tool. This takes place when the vessels have dried and are in a leather-hard state, before firing. Josiah Wedgwood used this technique to create his colorful diced pattern jasperware. The designs of engine-turned decoration are in relief and tend to be geometric.
- Titles Sugar Bowl (Descriptive)
- Artist Staffordshire, England
- Medium stoneware (unglazed redware)
- Dimensions 3 5/8 × 4 7/8 in. Diam. (9.2 × 12.4 cm)
- Credit Line Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Dwight M. Beeson, 1979.171a-b
- Work Type sugar bowl with cover
- Classification Containers
- Signature Unsigned
- Marks On the underside and inside lid impressed pseudo Chinese marks
- Inscription None
- Provenance Francis Jennings Vurpillat, South Bend, IN; Dwight and Lucille Beeson, Birmingham; Birmingham Museum of Art