An Early Pitcher Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and How It Relates to a Story I Wrote in 2019 for Antiques & Auction News

Mixed in with all of the incredible American red earthenware in the open-storage area and gallery space in the Americana Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan is a subtle black glazed eighteenth or early-nineteenth century red earthenware pitcher from eastern Massachusetts. It can easily be overlooked because of all of the great slipware, sgraffito and colorful glazes that surround it. But this pitcher has intrigued me for years as a result of the potential history that it seems to retain.

In a research story I wrote that was published in the June 2018 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, "The Pottery Industry in Southeastern Massachusetts," I noted the fact that there has been evidence recovered by archaeologists to suggest that wares from this industry were shipped to Boston and some of the surrounding communities in the 1800s. Although, how often this may have occurred is unknown.

Interestingly, the pitcher owned by the MET was also probably made somewhere south of Boston, either along the South Shore or Bristol County. However, the combination of the exterior and interior  glaze style found on this pitcher is also represented in the Charelestown, Massachusetts Archaeology Collection at the City of Boston Archaeology Program in West Roxbury, Massachusetts. The particular artifacts that I have handled with this type of glaze from Charlestown's industry predate the American Revolution.

The aspect about this pitcher that I find the most intriguing is an inscription written on the base, which is largely illegible to me. But it does include "South Natick," a historic community included as part of Natick, Massachusetts today, located about twenty miles west of Boston. And while I have no proof that this pitcher was made in Charlestown, South Natick would have been easily accessible for Charlestown's potters in the 1700s seeing that both communities are located along the Charles River. But my belief is that this pitcher was more likely made south of Boston.

According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "The pitcher was acquired from the collection of Mr. Albert Hastings Pitkin (1852-1917) in 1918, a native of Hartford Connecticut." This provenance is also fascinating to me - I suspect the handwriting belongs to Pitkin, who was one of the first collectors of red earthenware anywhere in New England. I wrote about Pitkin's role as an early collector, as well as his impact at the MET and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford for the April 19, 2019 issue of Antiques & Auction News. Many of the objects illustrated in the story from Pitkin's collecction had never been previously published.

1) Albert Hastings Pitkin Story Published in Antiques & Auction News - Part 1

2) Albert Hastings Pitkin Story Published in Antiques & Auction News - Part 2

An Early Eastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Pitcher

 My Nephew Jason in 2018 Next to Some of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Red Earthenware
This Display is Found in the Americana Wing's Open-Storage Area

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(Middle Row Far Left) Eastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Pitcher

Circa 18th or Early-19th Century

Stands 4 3/4" Tall

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 18th or Early-19th Century Eastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Pitcher

Likely from Boston's South Shore or Bristol County, Mass.

Appears to Retain a History of Ownership in South Natick, Mass.

Previously Owned by Albert Hastings Pitkin (1852-1917) Before 1918
Stands 4 3/4" Tall

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Photo Courtesy: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Writing on the Base of the Pitcher

Likely Written by Albert Hastings Pitkin

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Photo Courtesy: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...