Images(8)

Jug

Dateca. 1800

Attributed to Wood & Caldwell

OriginEngland, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Burslem

MediumEarthenware, lead-glazed (pearlware)

DimensionsOH: 8 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, C. Thomas Hamlin III Fund

Object number2017-13

DescriptionChina glaze (pearlware) baluster form jug decorated with slip in alternating bands of blue and orange with black inlaid slip engine-turned ovals. The strap handle terminates with foliate terminals and the molded spout further embellished with an acanthus leaf and bell flower. A paper label attached to the bottom indicates a connection to William Cullen Bryant. The label reads: "This pitcher was/[re]tained of D.C. Brya[nt]/Portland Me (July 1900)/Descendant of William Cullen/Bryant. D.C. Bryant sa[id]/that the pitcher came from the/William Cullen Bryant household/at Long Island N.Y."
Label TextFactory-made slipware, historically known as dipped or dipt ware, was made exclusively in refined earthenware. This jug is decorated with inlaid sip that required an engine-turning lathe to produce. Most inlaid slip decorated wares were made between 1790 and 1835. This piece is attributed to Wood & Caldwell, a pottery founded around 1790 by Enoch Wood and James Caldwell. They were in business until July 1818.

A label affixed to the underside of the jug indicates that the piece once belonged to William Cullen Bryant, poet, journalist, and editor of the New York Saturday Evening Post. However, his birth and death dates (1797-1878) suggest that while he may have owned this piece, he was likely not the first owner. Perhaps it belonged previously to his parents, Peter (1767-1820) and Sarah Bryant.
InscribedLabel affixed to base reads "This pitcher was / [re]tained of D.C. Brya[nt] / Portland Me (July 1900) / Descendant of William Cullen / Bryant sa[id] / that the pitcher came from the / William Cullen Bryant household / at Long Island N.Y."
ProvenanceEx. Coll. Jonathan Rickard