Lange, curatorial department chair and curator of historic interiors at Historic Deerfield, has written about in two catalogs, Chinese Export Art at Historic Deerfield and Delftware at Historic Deerfield: 1600вЂ±800. Perhaps because of their fondness for color, Historic DeerfieldвЂ™s founders, Henry and Helen Flynt, were especially drawn to delft and Chinese Export porcelain, subjects that Amanda E. The Sampson collection builds on one of our great strengths, ceramics,вЂќ says Philip Zea, president of Historic Deerfield. вЂњAny museum or teaching institution, which is how I view Historic Deerfield, moves forward not only with a great staff but with evolving collections. Through the generosity of Anne and Ray Groves, Historic Deerfield recently acquired Alistair and Camilla SampsonвЂ™s personal creamware collection, consisting of 162 figures, vases, urns, tureens, sauce boats, mugs, teapots, food molds, shaving bowls, candlesticks, spittoons, pierced dessert wares, baskets and other forms. вЂњWe put our heads together and found a way to fulfill AlistairвЂ™s wishes.вЂќ

He had often expressed to me his wish for his collection to stay together and be purchased by me for my collection or go to a museum, preferably Historic Deerfield because of the outstanding ceramics which are there,вЂќ Groves explained. Historic Deerfield, museum purchase with funds provided by Ray J. Some of her best pieces came from Alistair Sampson.Д¬offeepot, Staffordshire or Yorkshire, England, circa 1780. In addition to being an avid sponsor of many of the museumвЂ™s building and collections initiatives, Groves collects Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century delft and Eighteenth Century salt glaze and decorated creamware objects.

Groves got wind of the sale.ДЄ Historic Deerfield trustee since 1991, Anne Groves currently chairs the museumвЂ™s board. SampsonвЂ™s creamware collection was once again destined for auction when Anne K. In June 2006, the Sampson firm merged with Jonathan Horne to create Sampson & Horne Antiques. As Alistair Sampson once explained, вЂњNothing is more decorative than a selection of the early forms in plain creamware displayed against a colored background.вЂќДЄs a collector, Sampson was interested in illustrating the stylistic evolution and great formal diversity of the earthenware first produced in Staffordshire, England, in the 1740s using calcined flint clay and a lead glaze that, when fired, turned a transparent creamy-white.ДЄlistair Sampson died on January 13, 2006, age 76. The Sampsons also had a private collection of creamware, beautifully displayed on mantels and shelves in their St JohnвЂ™s Wood, London, home. James and Charles Whitehead Factory (working 1796вЂ±813), Hanley, Staffordshire, England, 1796вЂ±800. While unmarked, these candlesticks strongly resemble one illustrated in James and Charles WhiteheadвЂ™s 1798 pattern book. One rarity of the collection is a matched set of four neoclassical-style candlesticks, of which two are shown here, on vase-shaped stems with scroll handles and swags of husks. The dealer mingled it with the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century English furniture, delftware, treen, needlework and naive painting that he so artfully displayed in his Mount Street gallery and at antiques shows in New York and London. He wanted his new wife to, as he put it, вЂњmove her bits and bobs into the cupboard, which had previously been home to 80 teapots.вЂќД¬reamware nevertheless remained one of his great loves. Sampson sold his first creamware collection at ChristieвЂ™s in 1967 on the eve of his marriage to Camilla Madoc. In the 1960s, it was still loosely referred to by Sampson and others as Leeds Pottery, even though many firms manufactured creamware and not all Leeds was the enamel-free variety favored by Sampson. SampsonвЂ™s seduction and eventual defection from his legal career вЂ tongue-in-cheek, he wrote that his greatest struggle was вЂњwaking up in time to get to court by 10:30 amвЂќ вЂ began with English creamware. вЂњAt the age of 40, I decided that I would rather be an antiques dealer than practice at the bar,вЂќ the London antiquary Alistair Sampson wrote in Cabinet Secrets, a collection of whimsical essays on collecting and dealing that he first began penning for Punch magazine in 1984. Orange or chestnut basket made by Wedgwood Factory (1759вЃ°resent), stamped вЂњWEDGWOODвЂ and вЂњOвЂ on base, Etruria, Staffordshire, England, circa 1780. The form is still made at the modern factory. WedgwoodвЂ™s first creamware catalog issued in 1774 illustrated an orange basket.

Josiah Wedgwood (1730вЂ±795) and other potters imitated these earlier baskets in pierced creamware. Open basketwork, symbolizing dessert, referred to the tradition of using woven baskets for harvesting and serving fruit.

Creamware collection