Title
Jug
Creator
Made by the United States Pottery Company, Bennington, Vermont
Date
1852-1858
Label
#308
Jug
Made by the United States Pottery Company, Bennington, Vermont, 1852–1858
Made of Parian (Unglazed Porcelain)
Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by W. Groke Mickey
2015.25.1
Dramatically molded to look like water cascading over rocks, this jug is thought to have been inspired by Niagara Falls, one of the great natural wonders of the United States. Awareness of the falls grew in the first half of the 19th century, as paintings and prints disseminated its image, and as bridges, hotels and other visitor amenities brought increasing numbers of tourists to the falls themselves.
The jug is made of Parian, an unglazed, white porcelain designed to imitate marble. Named after the Greek island of Paros, an important source of statuary marble, Parian was developed in England in the 1840s to create affordable sculpture that would appeal to the taste and pocketbooks of middle-class consumers. American potters began making Parian in the 1850s.
Many of the products of the United States Pottery Company were copies of English wares, but this piece was an original American design.
Jug
Made by the United States Pottery Company, Bennington, Vermont, 1852–1858
Made of Parian (Unglazed Porcelain)
Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by W. Groke Mickey
2015.25.1
Dramatically molded to look like water cascading over rocks, this jug is thought to have been inspired by Niagara Falls, one of the great natural wonders of the United States. Awareness of the falls grew in the first half of the 19th century, as paintings and prints disseminated its image, and as bridges, hotels and other visitor amenities brought increasing numbers of tourists to the falls themselves.
The jug is made of Parian, an unglazed, white porcelain designed to imitate marble. Named after the Greek island of Paros, an important source of statuary marble, Parian was developed in England in the 1840s to create affordable sculpture that would appeal to the taste and pocketbooks of middle-class consumers. American potters began making Parian in the 1850s.
Many of the products of the United States Pottery Company were copies of English wares, but this piece was an original American design.
Credit Line
Museum Purchase with Funds Provided by W. Groke Mickey
Citation
Made by the United States Pottery Company, Bennington, Vermont, “Jug,” Museums at Washington and Lee University: Online Exhibits, accessed May 19, 2024, https://exhibits-museums.omeka.wlu.edu/items/show/245.