Narratives

Exhibition: 'Solomon's House in Oxford: : New Finds from the First Museum' display label

Hessian Vessels

Vessels of this form were first manufactured in England from c. 1673 by John Dwight at his Fulham pottery, though many such crucibles found in Britain will have been imported from Germany (from Hesse).

Hessian ware, not unlike the examples in the detail to the right, appear in engravings and paintings from the early sixteenth century onwards (the example here is eighteenth century). Vessels of this type are known to have had a variety of uses in the factory and laboratory, particularly in processes involving copper, brass, silver and gold. They were also used for the preparation of glazes for pottery and by apothecaries, physicians and glassworkers.

John Dwight had studied in Oxford, had been encouraged by Boyle and by Hooke, and had worked in Boyle's laboratory in High Street from about 1656 to 1660. He was thus well known to White, and Plot was the first to announce his success in the manufacture of crucibles, in his 'National [sic] History of Oxfordshire' in 1677:

'He [Dwight] hath discovered also the mystery of Hessian wares, and makes vessels for the penetrating salts and spirits of Chymists, more serviceable than were ever made in England, or imported from Germany itself.'

[should read 'Natural History of Oxfordshire' in the third paragraph]

Other narratives:

• Exhibition: 'Solomon's House in Oxford: : New Finds from the First Museum' display label
• Accession Record

Related Objects:

• Inventory No. 74333, "Excavation Finds: Crucible, 'Hessian' Type, English or Northern Europe, ?18th Century"
• Inventory No. 46346, "Excavation Finds: Crucible, 'Hessian' Type, English or Northern Europe, ?18th Century"
• Inventory No. 44115, "Excavation Finds: Crucible, 'Hessian' Type, English or Northern Europe, ?18th Century"