Saucer 1889 - 1895

This saucer was produced by the New England Pottery Company sometime between 1876 and 1914. It is more than a simple dish, it's a window into the burgeoning American ceramics industry. The New England Pottery Company, like many others at the time, was striving to compete with European manufacturers. They needed to create affordable wares for a growing middle class that still evoked luxury. The gilded edge and delicate fluted design of this saucer speak to that aspiration. Ceramics factories in the United States at this time had to negotiate issues of labor relations, factory conditions, and the cultural politics of taste. Advertising played a large part in shaping consumer desire, and objects like this saucer became important symbols of domestic comfort and social status. By researching company records, period advertisements, and social histories of the era, we can understand the complex web of social, economic, and artistic factors that shaped this seemingly simple object.