Poet's Pitcher
Karl L. H. Müller (Union Porcelain Works (American, 1863–c. 1922); Greenpoint, New York)
1875–86
- Medium
- Parian porcelain and glaze with gilding
- Classification
- Ceramics
- Dimensions
- H.: 218 cm (8 9/16 in.)
- Culture
- Brooklyn
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of the Americas
- Credit line
- Purchased with funds provided by Antiquarian Society through Mary Oldberg
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
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.”
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
