Pitcher 1849 - 1858

Editor: Here we have a pitcher, crafted sometime between 1849 and 1858 by the United States Pottery Company. It's made of ceramic and earthenware, with these autumnal colors. I’m really drawn to its form. What can you tell us about this object, and what do you see when you look at it? Curator: What I see is an object deeply embedded within the complex social fabric of 19th-century America. We have to consider the rise of industrialization, mass production, and the construction of national identity. Earthenware, accessible to a broader consumer base, became a vehicle for expressing social aspirations. What do you think the choice of colors evokes? Editor: The earthy browns and yellows do make me think of nature. Maybe a kind of idealized, romantic vision of the American landscape? Curator: Exactly! This “naturalism” wasn’t merely aesthetic. Consider the United States’ project of westward expansion and its relationship to Indigenous populations and enslaved labor. Think of whose lands were being exploited and whose labor extracted to create these landscapes both literally and figuratively. How does viewing the pitcher change when you consider that context? Editor: I suppose I had overlooked those factors at first glance. So the pitcher is not just an innocent piece of pottery. Curator: Precisely. Objects like this participated in shaping a specific cultural narrative. How can we disrupt and decolonize those dominant narratives when engaging with this object today? Editor: That’s something I hadn’t fully considered before. It makes me realize the importance of always questioning the stories we tell ourselves about the past and who is left out of them. Curator: Agreed. The journey of critical examination should be ceaseless.