In the mid-18th century, a new design aesthetic developed in France and England, known at the time as the “true” or “correct” style. Today referred to as Neoclassical, designers harkened back to the shapes and ornaments of Classical Greece and Rome. Excavations of Nero’s Golden Dome, and later the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, revived interest in the ancient world and inspired artists and architects. A ‘pure’ simplicity became favored over the more ornate or asymmetrical designs featured in the earlier Rococo period. In the newly formed United States, close identification with the Roman republic helped popularize Neoclassicism, commonly known here as the Federal style. Antiquity thus became a source of inspiration for architecture, furniture, and ceramics. The frequent use of swags, urns, and elliptical motifs, along with the application of bright and varied color palettes and symmetry, are expressions of Neoclassical style. This lecture will survey Neoclassical ceramics in particular earthenwares and stonewares made by Josiah Wedgwood, Chinese export porcelain, and French porcelain for the American market.

By the early 18th century, Puritan authorities no longer held complete control over the daily lives of the citizens of Boston. An affluent, wealthy Bostonian lived and behaved similarly to Englishmen. Daniel Neal in his History of New England, published in London in 1725, declared that "a Gentleman from London would almost think himself at home at Boston when he observes the number of people, their Houses, their Furniture, their Tables, their Dress and Conversation, which perhaps, is as splendid and showy, as that of the most considerable Trademen in London." During the first half of the 18th century, the very meaning of luxury and the nature of luxury goods had substantially changed. In previous years luxury had been the prerogative of the established elites, not the aspiration of all manners of society. But by the first decades of the 18th century, however, the idea of luxury came to assume more positive and democratic undertones. Using the lens of 18th-century New England silver, we will examine how more affordable luxury goods were created for these aspirational consumers, in particular looking at the importance of not only tea sets and tankards but also portable luxuries such as snuff boxes, jewelry, buckles, and buttons.