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Creamer from a Twelve Piece Tea Service

Decorative Arts and Design

Proudly embossed in gold with the family name, this tea set belonged to descendants of Pietro Cesare Alberti (1605–1655), one of the first Italian immigrants to New Netherlands. (“Alberti” was Anglicized to “Burtis” in the eighteenth century.) With a land grant from the Dutch West India Company, he ran a tobacco plantation along the Wallabout Bay (now the site of the Brooklyn Navy Yard). Subsequent generations remained in Brooklyn, including Abraham Burtis, who lived on High Street at the time that this tea service was made.
MEDIUM Porcelain
DATES Patented 1853
DIMENSIONS 6 x 4 3/4 x 3 in. (15.2 x 12.0 x 7.6 cm)  (show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER 1993.109.10
CREDIT LINE Gift of the Family of Paul E. Burtis
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Creamer from a Twelve Piece Tea Service, Patented 1853. Porcelain, 6 x 4 3/4 x 3 in. (15.2 x 12.0 x 7.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Family of Paul E. Burtis, 1993.109.10. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.109.10_PS1.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 1993.109.10_PS1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2006
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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 <em>Creamer from a Twelve Piece Tea Service</em>, Patented 1853. Porcelain, 6 x 4 3/4 x 3 in. (15.2 x 12.0 x 7.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Family of Paul E. Burtis, 1993.109.10. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1993.109.10_PS1.jpg)