Pitcher, "Union of the Two Great Republics"
notes: label: Description
content: This creamware pitcher is decorated by two transfer prints. One depicts a portrait of Washington in an oval medallion flanked by the allegorical figures of Justice and Liberty. Justice says “Deafness to the ear that will patiently hear and Dumbness to the Tongue that will utter a Calumny against the Immortal Washington” while Liberty says, “My favorite son.” A scroll underneath the pitcher reads “Long live the president of the United States.” The second transfer print shows a crossed American and French flag next to a sword, a rifle with bayonet, and a liberty cap on a pole. Underneath is a scroll that reads “The Union of the Two Great Republics.
label: Description
content: This pitcher is part of the McCauley collection of American themed transfer print pottery. There is no mark on the pitcher to tell us who made it, but it is characteristic of wares made in large volume for the American market in both Staffordshire and Liverpool between 1790 and 1820. Pitchers of this shape, with a cream colored glaze over a pale earthenware clay, known as Liverpool type, were the most common vessels to feature transfer prints with subjects commemorating events and significant figures in the early decades of United States’ history. Notwithstanding the tense relationship between Britain and America, Liverpool and Staffordshire printers and potters seized the commercial opportunity offered them in the production of transfer printed earthenwares celebrating the heroes, the military victories, and the virtues of the young republic, and frequently all of these things at once.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, Liverpool
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass
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content: Government, Politics, and Reform
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content: American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith
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content: Domestic Furnishings
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content: McCauley Liverpool Pottery
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Robert H. McCauley
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CE.63.141
label: catalog number
content: 63.141
label: accession number
content: 248619
label: collector/donor number
content: 44-358
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pitcher
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: monochrome, black (overall surface decoration color name)
label: Physical Description
content: ceramic, earthenware, coarse (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: transfer printed (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 6 11/16 in x 7 1/8 in x 4 7/8 in; 16.98625 cm x 18.0975 cm x 12.3825 cm