Pitcher c. 19th century

This pitcher, maker unknown, is part of a larger history of the decorative arts as they reflected, and perpetuated, the social and political order. Let's look at the imagery on the pitcher's surface. Note the depiction of hunting scenes. Hunting, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe and America, was an activity closely associated with the landed gentry and aristocracy. It signified privilege, leisure, and dominion over nature and, by extension, society. The rendering of these scenes on domestic objects like this pitcher served to bring these associations into the home, reinforcing social hierarchies even in the intimate sphere of family life. The absence of an identified maker is telling: the pitcher is not an individual expression, but an echo of a wider cultural value system. We can deepen our understanding of this pitcher by researching the history of hunting culture and the decorative arts. The meaning of objects is always contingent on the social and institutional contexts in which they circulate.