Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2013.

Images(2)

Norfolk Merchants' House Flag Pitcher

Manufacturer Unknown

CultureEnglish

Dateca. 1800

MediumCreamware, transfer printed and hand painted

Dimensions9 1/2 x 9 x 7 in. (24.1 x 22.9 x 17.8 cm)

InscribedAbove flags: initials “T.W.”, representing Thomas Willock, one of the merchants listed. Bottom of the jug near edge in red: inscription “L2.57.1”.

Credit LineGift of Barton Myers III

Object number2013.7

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, MMH, Upper Sitting Room

DescriptionThis is a creamware (or cream-colored earthenware) pitcher, baluster-shaped, with a plain strap handle. The jug is 9 ½ inches tall and 9 inches wide from handle to spout, while the core has a diameter of 7 inches at its widest point. It has been transfer printed in black and polychrome hand painted to show a series of Norfolk Merchants' House Flags. The flags are presented in individual squares within a 3 x 6 array, but only 15 flags are shown, leaving the final three spaces blank, as placeholders for additional flags. Fourteen of the 15 flags have the ship owners’ names printed below, including Moses Myers. The Moses Myers flag is the second depicted, near the upper left of the group, a solid blue circle against a white field. The pitcher bears the initials “T.W” above the flags, representing Thomas Willock, one of the merchants listed. The identical printed design appears on the reverse, also hand-colored, but without the initials “T.W”. On the bottom of the jug near the edge in red is the inscription “L2.57.1”.
ProvenanceAcquisition by Myers family; inherited by Barton Myers III, Santa Barbara, CA; loaned by Barton Myers III to Chrysler Museum of Art, 2008; gift of Barton Myers III to Chrysler Museum of Art, June 2013.