Red Earthenware and Stoneware Displayed at San Francisco's International Airport

It may not be widely known today, other than people living on the west coast, and those who travel there that the SFO Museum in San Francisco offers free galleries with rotating exhibits on art, history, science & culture, and an aviation museum. The museum is a division of San Francisco's International Airport. Created in 1980, the SFO Museum was the first cultural institution of its kind in America located in an international airport. Similar displays are found in a number of airports in Europe, sometimes even displaying ancient archaeology recovered from when the airport was constructed.

For instance, a few years ago, the SFO Museum showed a display that ran from November 8, 2017 until July 15, 2018, where the museum presented the exhibit, "American Folk Art: An Enduring  Legacy," which featured a variety of objects that were made as early as the late-eighteenth century through the twentieth century. Among the pieces displayed in this exhibit was a selection of red earthenware and stoneware on loan from various east coast museums, such as the Landis Valley Village & Farm Museum in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Although, the exhibit also included some southern stoneware.

This photograph shows an example of one of the SFO Museum's display cases at San Francisco's International Airport. This case exhibits some excellent pieces of Pennsylvania pottery, including three outstanding examples of sgraffito decorated red earthenware from southeastern Pennsylvania, one of which was made by Jacob Medinger (1857-1932) in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It is estimated that as many as 58 million people saw this exhibit.

Interestingly, it is noteworthy to mention that excellent examples of early American red earthenware and stoneware can be found at other museums in California. These types of wares are not exclusively owned by museums on the east coast.

Red Earthenware and Stoneware Displayed at San Francisco's International Airport 

Red Earthenware and Stoneware Displayed at San Francisco's International Airport

The Sgraffito Decorated Red Earthenware is from Southeastern Pennsylvania

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Photo Courtesy: SFO Museum

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