Dating the Custis Teabowls

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Returning to Colonial Williamsburg (General Sessions)" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

This paper presents a method of dating and sourcing English delftware (or tin-glazed earthenware) based on hand-painted decorations. Five English delftware teabowls from Custis Square in Williamsburg, Virginia were analyzed during this project. Their hand-painted chinoiserie designs were broken down into specific decorative characteristics and compared to catalogs of delftware collections from around the world. Almost 100 vessels with similar characteristics to the Custis teabowls were identified. Through analysis of these extant, non-archaeological vessels, the Custis teabowls were dated to c.1720-1740, well within the John Custis IV occupation of the site (c.1717-1749).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Returning to Colonial Williamsburg (General Sessions)   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

Keywords

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology