Money Box
ca. 1800-15
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
As the quickest way to extract coins from simple pottery money boxes is to smash them, it is perhaps not surprising they are uncommon objects today. This rare pottery survivor is made of salt-glazed stoneware. Its surfaces have been decorated with applied 'sprigs', stamped clay decoration of horses and hounds, a man drinking ale and windmills. These subjects traditionally decorated ale mugs and jugs used in taverns and homes from the early 1700s onwards. This item also has applied medallions applied to the top surface, perhaps intended to resemble coins in reference to its purpose. It was probably made in a pottery which specialised in making mugs and bottles for everyday use. The most likely candidate for the pottery which made this moneybox is Joseph Kishere's Mortlake Pottery on the banks of the River Thames in the early 1800s.
Object details
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Slab-built with applied stamped sprigs of different subjects |
| Brief description | Money box, salt-glazed stoneware, made in England, ca. 1810 |
| Physical description | Money box of rectangular shape with sprigged decoration: a seated toper flanked by windmills with a line of hounds on both long sides and, on both short sides, a mounted huntsman pursuing a bushy-tailed fox, the rims with running borders of small flower sprigs. The top has applied stamped medallions, perhaps intended to resemble coins in reference to object’s purpose. The upper part of the box has a tan dip while the lower part is buff-coloured. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Sir Harry Djanogly CBE |
| Object history | Once part of the Longridge Collection, amassed by the east coast American collector Syd Levethan during the second half of the 20th century. Sold at Christie's, 24 January 2011, lot 45. Described as c.1750, probably Fulham. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | As the quickest way to extract coins from simple pottery money boxes is to smash them, it is perhaps not surprising they are uncommon objects today. This rare pottery survivor is made of salt-glazed stoneware. Its surfaces have been decorated with applied 'sprigs', stamped clay decoration of horses and hounds, a man drinking ale and windmills. These subjects traditionally decorated ale mugs and jugs used in taverns and homes from the early 1700s onwards. This item also has applied medallions applied to the top surface, perhaps intended to resemble coins in reference to its purpose. It was probably made in a pottery which specialised in making mugs and bottles for everyday use. The most likely candidate for the pottery which made this moneybox is Joseph Kishere's Mortlake Pottery on the banks of the River Thames in the early 1800s. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.213-2014 |
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| Record created | June 12, 2014 |
| Record URL |
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