Poet's Pitcher

Arts of the Americas

1875–86

Designed by Karl L. H. Müller (American, born Germany, 1820–1887)
Union Porcelain Works (American, 1863–c. 1922)
Greenpoint, New York

Union Porcelain Works was known for making doorknobs and other utilitarian objects before expanding into fine tablewares that could compete with imported products. Karl L. H. Müller, a German-born sculptor, was hired to design inventive works that went into production around the time of the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. This pitcher, which depicts six poets in profile encircling the body of the vessel, received international acclaim, as did Müller’s other designs for Union Porcelain. One account of his works on display at the Philadelphia exhibition declared them exemplary of “what can be done in art pottery on this side of the water.”

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of the Americas

Artist: Karl L. H. Müller (Designer)
Title: Poet's Pitcher
Place: Brooklyn (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1875–1886
Medium: Parian porcelain and glaze with gilding
Inscriptions: Marked bottom: "S" [with eagle's head] / "Union Porcelain Works Greenpoint, N.Y."; printed, in yellow: "1 86" [circle, decorator's mark, for January 1886].
Dimensions: H.: 218 cm (8 9/16 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Antiquarian Society through Mary Oldberg
Reference Number: 1996.14
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/144346/manifest.json

Judith A. Barter, et al., American Arts at The Art Institute of Chicago: From Colonial Times to World War I (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1998), 240–241, cat. 115 (ill.).

Sold, Sotheby’s, New York, Jan. 19–21, 1996, lot 1435 [sale 6800, Important Americana] to the Stradlings, New York [incoming receipt RX21076, Feb. 1, 1996; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1996.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.