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Stevens Shop, (act. 1798–1842), “Teapot,” Stevens Plains (now Westbrook), Maine, c. 1815–1835, …
Teapot
Stevens Shop, (act. 1798–1842), “Teapot,” Stevens Plains (now Westbrook), Maine, c. 1815–1835, …
Stevens Shop, (act. 1798–1842), “Teapot,” Stevens Plains (now Westbrook), Maine, c. 1815–1835, Paint on tinplate, 5 1/8 × 8 3/4 × 3 ½ in., Collection American Folk Art Museum, New York, Gift of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration, 76.13.4. Photo by John Parnell.
Record Details

Teapot

Artist ((act. 1798–1842))
Datec. 1815–1835
Place/RegionStevens Plains (now Westbrook), Maine, United States
MediumPaint on tinplate
Dimensions5 1/8 × 8 3/4 × 3 1/2"
Credit LineGift of the Historical Society of Early American Decoration
Accession number76.13.4
CopyrightThe American Folk Art Museum believes this work to be in the public domain.
Description

Zachariah Brackett Stevens (1778–1856) is first known as a tinsmith in 1798, when he opened a shop in his native Stevens Plains, Maine. His success in markets as far away as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Canada attracted other tinsmiths to Maine from Berlin, Connecticut, the center of American tinmaking from the time the industry was pioneered by Edward Pattison about fifty years earlier. From about 1825 to 1830, Stevens's sons Alfred and Samuel headed the operation. Many of the designs were applied while the base coat was still wet, in a technique known as "wet in wet." The double cherry is considered a Zachariah Stevens hallmark; other typical motifs include fluffy white and yellow flowers with varied petal structures and cross-hatching, shells, and three-pronged leaves.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Teapot," in American Anthem: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum (New York: Harry N. Abrams in association with American Folk Art Museum, 2001), 317.

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