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Pitcher
Accession # 1995.108.2
Maker Charles Cartlidge & Co.
Title Pitcher
Date 1854-1856
Medium Porcelain
Dimensions 10 x 12 1/8 x 8 5/8 in. (25.4 x 30.8 x 21.9 cm)
Inscriptions In gilt lettering in script, "Lott." on one side of pitcher and "And / Murphy" on the other. In gilt lettering in top register of molded shield below spout, "VANDERBILT"
Credit Line Gift of Mrs. John H. Livingston
Location Visible Storage: Case 36, Shelf P (Ceramics)
Description Porcelain pitcher, white body with vitreous glaze and gilt accents. Body rises from round base, swells in center, tapers slightly around neck, and then continues to wide opening at top. One side of top edge extends into a wide arched spout. Opposing attached looped handle is molded with irregular bumps (resemble a tree branch) and has gilt accents. Sides of pitcher contain plain register with inscriptions in gilt lettering (in script, "Lott." on one side, "And / Murphy" on the other); registers surrounded by molded oak leaves and acorns accented in gilt. Below spout, there is a molded design with gilt accents of, from top to bottom: an eagle with spread wings (wings follow the curved contour of the spout) standing atop a shield, and an anchor intertwined with rope. The shield contains the gilt inscription "VANDERBILT" in the top register and the bottom register has alternating stripes with gilt. The molded rope is painted with brown glaze. Gilt band around top and bottom edge of pitcher. CONDITION: Good; overall crazed glaze and losses to gilt.

Curatorial Remarks: In the mid-nineteenth century, Charles Cartlidge & Company was the foremost pottery in Brooklyn. At the 1853 Crystal Palace Exhibition in New York, Cartlidge received a “first premium” for his large range of porcelains, such as the large Rococo-style pitcher seen here. His specialty and greatest achievement was Parian ware figures of great refinement and scale. Few are known to survive.