Pitcher

American Pottery Manufacturing Company

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In 1828 two Scotsmen David and James Henderson took over the defunct Jersey Porcelain and Earthenware Company in Jersey City, New Jersey, to fabricate fine stonewares that resembled those made in England. Such mid-range wares were imported into America in large quantities. The Jersey City factory relied heavily on English workers, designs and factory practices. Many of the firm's products, pitchers, in particular, virtually replicate their Staffordshire counterparts. The Hendersons reorganized in 1833, renaming their firm the American Pottery manufacturing company, whose mark appears on the underside of this pitcher. The overall form of the pitcher is based on English models, yet the relief decoration of thistles appears to be uniquely American, the motif perhaps a reference to the proprietors' native country. The stippled background calls to mind patterns in lacy pressed glass of the same time period.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art