A Great 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Bowl in the Collection of the Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut

In anticipation of seeing the entire Albert Hastings Pitkin Collection next week at the Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut, I would like to share another great object from this early collection.

While I have seen these type of bowls attributed to Maryland before, I think the overall consensus is that they were manufactured in Pennsylvania in the nineteenth century. This particular object is one of the best decorated bowls in this style that I have ever seen.

According to the museum, "A native and lifelong resident of Hartford, Albert Hastings Pitkin (1852-1917) was among the first to systematically study and collect early American pottery. While visiting a local farmhouse in the spring of 1884, his discovery of two pieces of redware, or lead glazed earthenware pottery, spurred his passion for ceramics. Pitkin soon amassed a collection and became known as the leading authority on New England earthenware. In 1910 he joined the staff at the Wadsworth Antheneum as curator of the department of ceramics. During his tenure, he oversaw the installation of his own collections in the Morgan Memorial, and upon his death, his wife, Sarah Howard Loomis Pitkin, donated over three hundred objects to the museum."

Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Bowl

19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Bowl

Reportedly Manufactured in Pennsylvania

Measures 8 1/4" in Diameter

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art

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