Severn Ware Chocolate Jug

This jug is representative of aesthetic movement pieces popular among American middle-class consumers in the 1880s and 1890s, at a time when Arts and Crafts style home-furnishings were reaching a broader audience. The color of the jug is subdued, created by the mixture of local clays used, rather than a glaze. The gold and silver raised decoration takes the form of a Japanese inspired motif, typical for aesthetic movement decorative arts of this period. The decorating was done by hand at the company, typically by female workers trained at the Maryland Institute School of Design in Baltimore. D.F. Haynes and Co. introduced this kind of Severn Ware in 1885. Using local clays from in and around Baltimore it also produced several other colors of stoneware, each marketed under a name that emphasized their Maryland origins, including Arundel, Calvertine, and Avalon (this last in reference to an estate of Lord Baltimore’s).

Of special interest is the attribution of this design to James Callowhill (1838–1917), one of the Callowhills who worked on the watercolors of William T. Walters’ Asian ceramics, which were turned into fine lithographs by Louis Prang under the title Oriental Ceramic Art in 1897. James’ stay at the Chesapeake Pottery Company (as it was then named) was short, spanning just two years (1885 to 1887).

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Acushmet River Antiques, New Bedford, MA; purchased by Federico Santi, Newport, RI, 1997; purchased by Walters Art Museum, 2015.