Object: Posset Pots

When I hear of a combination of milk and beer or wine, I have to tell you, I think of a hangover remedy -- something to soothe the stomach with a little dash of hair of the dog to ease a pounding head.

Posset pots were drinking vessels usually made from tin-glazed earthenware, sometimes made from silver or glass, to drink the milk and alcohol mixture from. They had two handles and a spout and were very popular in England and Holland from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries.

Bristol Delftware Posset Pot, circa 1690; Sotheby’s NYC January 20, 2006; Realized Price: $12,000


Sometimes an egg and spices like cinnamon were added. Sometimes a sweet sherry was used instead of ale or wine. The alcohol would cause the mixture to curdle and separate and the drinker would sip the concoction through the spout.

Dutch Delft Polychrome Posset Pot 18th Century (painted in imitation of Batavian ware); Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, Netherlands, December 4, 2006; Estimate : €800 - €1,200


A little protein post a bout of too much drinking the night before is always recommended. However, I would opt out of drinking this recipe. I am covering my lips with one finger right now as my stomach turns a bit.


George II Delftware Posset Pot circa 1730-40; Christies’ London January 20, 2009; Realized: £1,625


Posset was a popular drink at celebrations such as weddings or Christmas feasts and the posset pot was passed from guest to guest each one sipping from the spout. I wouldn’t have liked to be the last one to sip this mixture. Some people tend to leave a bit of warm, thick backwash.

Posset Pot, ca. 1710 Bristol, England, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in KC.


A really good posset was said to have three different layers: the upper having foam; the middle a smooth custard; and the bottom the alcohol. The custard portion was eaten with a spoon and the leftover liquid mixture sipped through the spout. At weddings a wedding ring was sometimes thrown into the posset pot. It was thought that the person who fished it out would be the next to get married.

It was also commonly used for those in bed sick to slowly sip this milk and alcohol mixture from one of these pots. In some rural portions of England, this was practiced even up until the mid twentieth century.

English Delftware White Posset Pot, curca 1700; Sotheby’s NYC, October 20, 2003; Estimated Price: $6,000 - $8,000; failed to sell.


Some seventeenth-century recipes called for bread crumbs, eighteen yokes and three-quarters pound of sugar. (My bottom is spreading from just reading about it.) This recipe sounds similar to a bread pudding I make -- but it has a whiskey sauce mixed with butter and sugar on top. There is no curdling. There is no communal sipping sludge from the bottom. And everyone has their own portion from their own plate nibbling from their own fork.

I must not judge. Times have changed. And I am sure an eighteenth-century English woman would have thought eating a rice cake that tastes similar to Styrofoam was unappealing.

English Delftware Polychrome Posset Pot and cover, Circa 1770; Sotheby’s NYC; October 6, 2006; Estimated Price: $18,000 - $22,000; Realized Price: $66,000 !

Something about these spouts makes me feel a little uncomfortable. Anyone else?

Top image: Posset pot, Netherlands, Late 17th or early 18th century ; Victoria and Albert Museum .

Artist: Lizzie Siddal (1829-1862)

… All changes pass me like a dream,
I neither sing nor pray;
And thou art like the poisonous tree
That stole my life away.

- Elizabeth Siddal from “Love and Hate”

Many of us have succumbed to the powers of attraction.

Our bodies ruling over our heads. Our emotions soon to follow.

A spell is cast and no matter hard we fight to break it, we just can’t seem to get away.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was one of those… a sorcerer of sorts, and not the good kind. Lizzie Siddal, an artist in her own right, fell under his spell. Today, she is known more as a model or a muse, for the drama with Rossetti and not her work.

Beatrix by DGR

At the age of twenty, Elizabeth Eleanor Siddall was working as a milliner. She was unusual in appearance than most of the girls her age. Tall and lean with a mass of glorious red hair, she had agate-colored eyes and alabaster skin. Her voice soft and scant. She caught the attention of many men. She was introduced to Dante Gabriel Rossetti and soon, at his demand, she became his exclusive model.

Lizzie showed promise as an artist, and Rossetti took her on as a student. He had her live with him. He dropped the remaining ‘L’ from her last name. And then he promised to marry her.

Self-Portrait 1853-54

By 1854, several of Lizzie’s paintings and illustrations appeared in the Pre-Raphaelite Exhibition. Lizzie was the only female artist. The following year, John Ruskin saw her work and purchased everything. Ruskin even gave her an allowance to continue her work.

Years passed and Rossetti ’s promises to marry her went unrealized. He began to entertain other artists’ models. Their relationship became tumultuous. Several times she tried to leave but was always worried Rossetti would replace her with a younger, prettier muse. Grief stricken, Lizzie would often fall ill taking laudanum for relief.

In May of 1860, Rossetti and Lizzie finally married. The following May, she gave birth to a stillborn daughter. By the end of the year, Lizzie was pregnant again. In February, she went out to dinner with Rossetti and a friend. She returned home and he went out again. At 11:30 he came home to a dark room. He called to her and received no reply. In bed he found her with an empty vile of laudanum next to the bed.

The grieving husband threw a manuscript of poems he had written into her casket. he began to drink. And take chloral.

Seven years went by and then Rossetti persuaded his friends to exhume Lizzie's body. He wanted to publish the poems he had thrown into her coffin. Late one night, they dug up her grave and pried open the coffin. The poems were retrieved and drenched in disinfectant. His friends told him, not to worry…. Lizzie looked remarkably well.

Georgiana, the wife of the painter Edward Burne-Jones, said of Rossetti: “no one could produce the peculiar charm of his voice with its sonorous roll and beautiful cadences.” No one really knows why or how another person can cast such a powerful spell onto another. No one really knows why people cannot break away from others. But you wonder if Lizzie was able to break from his spell and finally leave him not having to carry the label of a divorced or 'fallen' woman, how good her work could have become.

Respectable B

There are two styles of champagne glasses: one is a flute which features a deep, narrow mouthed bowl which helps to retain the bubbles.

And the second: a saucer with a wide, shallow bowl.

The latter supposedly modeled from the bosom of Mme. de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV.

To those Americans who prefer basketball-sized silicone, I would personally rather liken a perfectly good B cup to a crystal champagne glass...

For more (and always good) info see Emily Evans Eerdmans post.

and for more on the quiet, shy but very active Louis XV see here...

Both images from Dawson and Nye: Morris Plains, NJ, USA. Top - by Baccarat, sold September 23, 2009; and second Lalique coupe glasses sold December 6, 2007.

Some Things Never Change

I remember this phone always being a challenge in my youth. We had one when I was growing up. It came from my Grandfather’s house. He always had the coolest, but not the most practical, things. This phone was not designed with a growing teenager in mind. My conversations on the phone when I was 15 or 16 consisted of me sitting on the floor frantically sewing the legs of my Levis so tight I could barely squeeze my foot through with the phone resting on my shoulder as I repeated the words ‘ohmygawd no way” to a friend on the other line. Because of its sleek Calatrava-esque form, it was impossible for me to comfortably hold the phone between my shoulder and ear as I sewed or singed my hair with a curling iron. It was heavy and it would often slip down to the floor hanging up on my friends.

There was a big red button on the bottom. With a gentle touch, it would immediately disconnect the line.

The design also caused additional problems, it was bottom heavy and like a weeble-wobble, it liked to sit upright. If a caller was inquiring to speak with my mom, often times I would say “one moment please” then set it straight down accidentally hanging up. Irritated, the caller always called back.

Now that I am much older and spend less and less time on the telephone, I have new respect and admiration for its elegant design aesthetic. But for the record when I am talking to my friends all these years later, I still say “ohmygawd no way”.

Phone by Ericsson, a Swedish telephone manufacturer (est. 1876); phone designed in 1954 by Hugo Blomberg and Ralph Lysell and put into production by 1957. Image from MoMA.

Designer: Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932)

Glass has been made in a variety of shapes and styles for more than 5,000 years -- the styles reflecting the trends of the time. When we look at the glass vase above, our thoughts probably drift to a similar vase we have seen today.

But place this vase in the context of its time. It was created during Victorian England when the reigning taste was all about clutter, bric-a-brac and passementeries.

Gertrude Jekyll designed this vase. I was unaware of it until a friend, Paul Shutler, from across the pond educated me. He has one. An unusual one.

A garden designer and writer, Jekyll designed her gardens very carefully, demonstrating a sensitive and sympathetic relationship between a house and its surroundings. She believed each plant should be studied for habit, foliage and color to achieve a practical, harmonious effect that was most appropriate for its area.

She demonstrated the same theory in this vase.

Gertrude Jekyll was asked by the London retailer James Green to design a series of flower vases. The result: “Munstead Range” after her own cottage Munstead Wood which was designed by the young architect Sir Edwin Lutyens.

The vases are the only objects designed by Jekyll. Neither an architect nor an industrial designer, she designed an object intended for the general public – so people could enjoy a bit of nature when they didn’t have the acreage. Jeckyll’s vision and theories were well ahead of her time.

The vase’s form is functional and the lines are essential. She wanted to create something appropriate for cut flowers and foliage. She didn’t want something unnecessary or overwhelming or overly designed. It was different from the usual Victorian vases painted with unsettling colors, or cut with heavy patterning. It wasn’t a clunky form, but perfectly fit for its purpose.


During her career, she carried out over 400 commissions for clients in the UK, Europe and even America. She ran a prosperous nursery garden business at her home well into her eighties. And she was a prolific writer publishing 13 books -- starting after her 55th birthday!

A picture of Gertrude Jekyll sketched by Lutyens c.1896 (from the Museum of Garden History)

Munstead Woods images from garvenvisit.com and the Astoft collection of buildings in England; Vase image and tear sheet courtesy of Paul A. Shutler)

Kreative Blogger

With humble thanks to Little Augury and Art By Karena for passing the Kreativ Blogger award to me. As I will pass it on. The conditions are: list 7 things about yourself that readers might not know, and then nominate 7 other bloggers.

Me:
1. I become paralyzed by the smallest decisions, but when I finally make one I do NOT want to hear: "are you sure?"



2. My favorite color since I was three has been navy. It was my favorite one in the crayon box. My parents moved to a new house when I was four, and my mom asked me what color room I wanted. I said navy. Instead I got baby blue and my brother got navy. To this day baby blue makes me mad.


3. When I was a kid I wanted to be an animator. I used to carefully study the Looney-Tunes cartoons on Saturday morning TV. My drawing skills peaked when I was 12 and I have never been able to surpass that point. As an adult, I wanted to be a furniture designer. I worked towards that goal for years; my life took a series of sudden and sharp turns taking me away from this path.


4. I truly do not understand why some people present themselves as something they are not. Be true. Be yourself. Even if it is painful. Reality is much more complex, rich and interesting.



5. Sometimes I wish I could believe in God.

6. I love to sip a thick, chocolaty cold pint of Guinness. I have difficulties seeing my westie, Billy, as a dog rather than a little person. I still horribly miss my other westie, Tula. Somehow these three loves go together. Each, without fail, makes me feel warm and happy.

Thomas Hart Benton, Homeward Bound (1944)

7. I was born and raised in the Midwest. I first left the area when I was 17 and swore I would never return. I came back. I left three more times and even to another country. Some major incident in life always brought me back. Each time I returned, I said it would only be temporary. No matter where I have lived or different and strange places I have seen, I realized that nothing is as promising and full of possibilities as a brilliant pink Midwestern sky.

Of course as a Libra, I deliberated and wanted to be fair in passing this torch onto 7 others. I chose each one for very, very different reasons:

P i g t o w n * D e s i g n

Midwestern Malaise

So Lovely

Comfort & Luxury

i heart strangers

The Adventures of Tartan Scot

Sweet Sunday Mornings

* Image of me, in fact, after 4 pints of Guinness.

Designer: Christopher Dresser (1834-1904)

"Maximum effect with minimum means" is a saying Christopher Dresser used to repeat to his students. A saying many of us during this recession can relate to. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Dresser believed in good, quality design for all.

Think of today's designers for Target: Martha Stewart, Michael Graves and Karim Rashid …
Christopher Dresser was the first to self-brand products offering quality at an affordable price.

"Fitness for purpose", Dresser also used to say, was the basis of good design. Bauhaus designers championed this principle which is also something we desperately are in need of today.

Dresser was enthusiastic about scientific progress and the machine-age which contrasted sharply with the pessimism of John Ruskin and William Morris. He believed existing scientific laws were destined to become outdated only to be replaced by newer, simpler laws. This belief led him to the theory that design should be simple.

In his lifetime, Dresser received quite a bit of recognition. Design firms carrying Dresser creations were cream of the crop. It is strange that this leading Victorian designer doesn't share the same acclaim as other designers such as Morris today.

Manufactured by Chubb & Co. for the Art Furnishers' Alliance, (1880-83);Ebonized & gilded mahogany --Victoria & Albert Museum

For whatever reason I've always skipped over the part about Christopher Dresser’s personal life. I made the erroneous assumption that he was not married. Surely someone so prolific couldn't possibly have time for a wife, or even a family. I was wrong. At the young age of 20 he married an "older" woman (points for him) named Thirza Perry, though she was only 24. Together they had thirteen -- 13 -- children.

I love his work. Something about every single piece I see time and time again sings. I wonder if 130 years from now, people will feel the same about Karim Rashid’s designs. Somehow I don’t think so. Take one moment and place Dresser’s theories and work within the context of his time. His designs and ideas stood apart from his contemporaries and were advanced for the time.

Born in Glasgow to non-conformist English parents, Dresser was a very talented child. His father was a tax collector moving his family frequently over the years. When Dresser was 13, he won a scholarship Government School of Design. This new art school was set up to improve the standard of British design by joining the disciplines of art and science.

During his attendance, Dresser met many of the most important design reformers of the day including his mentor: the utterly fantastic Owen Jones.

Dresser studied botany, specializing in the field. At the early age of 20, he began to lecture at the School of Design and wrote several articles for the Art Journal. He illustrated ten plates of plants to Owen Jones' Grammar of Ornament (1856) and received an honorary doctorate in botany in 1859. By 1860, working as a professor for the University of London, his application for Chair of Botany at was rejected. He was determined to forge a career as a designer and set up shop that same year. His fascination with the inherent symmetry and regularity of nature merged with the natural laws in his designs.

Blue Floral Urn (1875); Cloisonné frieze inspired by Iznik (Turkish) designs available at Jason Jacques Inc.. Image from ArtNet.

In the 1860s and 1870s, he worked as a freelance designer for Mintons Ltd. and J. Wedgwood and Sons. Many designs were inspired by ‘oriental’ cloisonné wares.

An unconventional thinker, Dresser broke new ground in design. A trip to Japan in 1876 strengthened his preference for form over ornament. He also procured items for Tiffany & Co. in New York.

Electroplate teapot (1878-1879) made by James Dixon and Sons. Collection of The British Museum.

He designed forms intended for mass production and ensured high-quality. Most of his metal work he designed for James Dixson and Sons Elkington & Co.

He designed textiles, wallpaper, silver hollowware, brassware, glass, pottery and furniture.

In 1880, he established The Art Furnishers' Alliance, which sold furniture, metalwork, ceramics, glass, fabrics and other items of his design -- some executed under his supervision. Unfortunately, by 1883, the firm went bankrupt and everything liquidated. Dresser had to move to the suburbs.

Tongue Vase, Christopher Dresser, c.1893. From “Design in the age of Darwin: From William Morris to Frank Lloyd Wright" exhibition.

There was no one to continue his work after his death. In part, perhaps, because no one was as brilliant. The other part, perhaps, because he was alone in his mission to address design for all.

Dresser's designs reissued and currently available at Alessi.

To see more good stuff and read about his market click HERE.