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Fruit Dish

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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This oval ceramic basket belonged to Deerfield, Massachusetts, resident Lucy Frary (1754-1831), who married Colonel Joseph Stebbins (1749-1816) in 1774. It was inherited by their daughter, Caroline (Stebbins) Sheldon, and descended to her son, George Sheldon, founder of the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association in Deerfield. The litchi nut finial on the cover is comparable to those seen on Chinese export porcelain wares. The basket has twisted handles fixed to the body with small rosettes. English creamware, produced primarily in the Staffordshire district and in the city of Leeds, began to replace delft in the mid 18th century and remained dominant in England until the 19th century. Considered by some the triumph of English ceramics, creamware is light in weight, and the best examples have a good clear creamy color.

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