George Phillips "Canova" tea service (jan 1, 1834 – jan 1, 1847)

Description:

Among the ceramics from Yeaton-Walsh are sherds to reconstruct three tea cups and two saucers with a blue and white transfer print called "Canova." The print includes a man, who plays an instrument, and a woman sitting next to an urn. In the water, there are several boats and a tree-lined shore. The edges of the saucer and cup include a scallop and floral border.

To make pearlware, English potters added a touch of blue pigment to glazes to mimic the bright white of Chinese porcelain, which was a symbol of ultimate wealth and refinement throughout colonial American to the Victorian era. The ceramicist who created this set, George Phillips, was based in Longport, Staffordshire, England. Phillips pottery is prolific in New England. It was imported by either N.G. Basset of Newburyport, MA or Peter Wright & Sons of Philadelphia, PA.

A full set of this tea service was likely owned by the Welches during the early stages of their lives at Yeaton-Walsh. For the Welches, this set was probably a central point of pride in the kitchen and of great importance. According to Stephen Brighton, Irish immigrants opted to purchase more expensive and decorative transfer printed vessels for tea drinking to preserve the culture of tea drinking in Ireland, but less expensive or plainer tableware and serving vessels. (Historical Archaeology of the Irish Diaspora, 159)

Considering that many of the rural Irish peasants who immigrated from Ireland had a traumatic relationship to food, not having access to ingredients or the means to cook traditional dishes, tea was a way for immigrants to connect to their ethnic identities across the ocean.

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