Teapot

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This red earthenware teapot was made in Barvas, a crofting township on the west coast of the the Isle of Lewis, the northernmost island of the Outer Hebrides. It imitates contemporary tableware then becoming available from Clyde and Staffordshire potteries and was made for sale to tourists. It dates from around 1880.

The pieces have been made with a gritty clay dug from coastal glacial deposits and 'fired' in the peat on the central hearth of a thatched house.

For centuries it was the land which supplied the resources of everyday life for most people in Scotland. Earthenware was originally made from local clays and it was not until the middle of the 18th century that domestic pottery began to be mass-produced on an industrial scale.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-190-002-324-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  H.MEK 864
• Date: Around 1880
  c. 1880
  
• Material: Red earthenware; traces of milk glaze
  
• Dimensions: 120 mm H x 130 mm W
  
• What:
• Subject: Post-medieval pottery and porcelain (NMAS Classification)
  
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Ross and Cromarty, Lewis, Barvas
  
• Event:
• Description: Small Barvas ware teapot of red earthenware with traces of milk glaze, c. 1880
  
• References:
  • Cheape, Hugh. Crogans and Barvas Ware Pottery in the Islands. Stornaway Gazette, 22 January 1883, p 2. 
  • Fenton, Alex & Eszter Kisban (eds) Food in Change. Eating Habits from the Middle Ages to the Present Day. Article by Hugh Cheape, 'Pottery and Food Preparation, Storage and Transport in the Scottish Hebrides'. Edinburgh 1986, pp 111-121. 
  • Fenton, Alex & Myrdal, Janken (eds). Food and Drink and Travelling Accessories. Article by Hugh Cheape, 'Food and Liquid Containers in the Hebrides: A Window on the Iron Age'. NMS & Nordiska Museet. 1988. pp 6-27. 
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