Images(7)

Pitcher

Date1864

Artist/Maker Henry Remmey Jr. (active 1827-1878) or

Artist/Maker Richard Clinton Remmey 1859 - 1892

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

MediumSalt-glazed stoneware

Dimensions9 3/4" x 7 7/8" x 6 7/8" (24.8 cm. x 20.0 cm. x 17.4 cm.)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1988.900.1

DescriptionGray stoneware pitcher having a long, tapered neck with spout above a baluster-shaped bydy; applied molded strap handle, molded rim and foot. Decorated with an incised guilloche encircling the neck below the rim, a large, leafy flowering plant on body below spout and, flanking this, two incised birds perched on leafy branches; handle has cobalt glaze painted around upper point of attachment and an incised petal-like motif around lower point of attachment. All incised decoration is painted around lower point of attachment. All incised decoration is painted with blue- gray cobalt glaze; interior coated with white slip.Label TextThis well-turned and elaborately ornamented presentation pitcher is a perfect example of how utilitarian forms were decorated when they were intended for other purposes. Although the pitcher has traditionally been attributed to the then seventy-five-year-old Henry Remmey, Jr., based on the inscription beneath the handle, "Mary P. Hall by her frendd (sic) Henry Remmey," it is more likely that the piece was completed by his son, Richard C. Remmey. The skillfully drawn birds and flowering plants closely resemble those on pitchers signed in the same location by the younger Remmey.

Henry Remmey, Jr., and his partner, Enoch Burnett, established a stoneware factory in Philadelphia in 1827. Henry, Jr., eventually bought out his partner and soon was running one of the most successful stoneware manufactories in Philadelphia. In addition to producing a wide range of domestic wares, Remmey was producing large quantities of "Chemical Apparatus" to satisfy the needs of Philadelphia's expanding chemical industry. Decorated with traditional Pennsylvania- German motifs like birds and flowering plants, this pitcher was presented to "Mary P Hall by her frendd Henry Remmey" as he neared his eightieth year.

Mark(s)Incised below the handle is "Mary P Hall/by her frendd (sic)/Henry Remmey".ProvenanceJudge H. E. Pickersgill, Philadelphia, Penn.; Robert Carlen, Philadelphia, Penn.; Howard and Caterine Feldman, Bethlehem, Penn.