E. & W. Bennett
Pitcher

MakerAmerican, active 1848–1856
ModelerAmerican, 1805–1868
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Pitcher
Datec. 1850–1856
Made inBaltimore, Maryland, United States
MediumLead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
Dimensions8 1/2 × 5 1/4 × 7 3/4 in. (21.6 × 13.3 × 19.7 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.63.14
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Ceramics Study Room
Exposé

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Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Edward and William Bennett, brothers who emigrated from England in 1841, were part of a large family of potters who worked together in New Jersey and Ohio before they opened their own Baltimore factory in 1848. They retained Charles Coxon, an Englishman from Staffordshire, who worked as the firm’s principal modeler from 1850 until 1858.  Prior to William's departure in 1856, the firm used this mark (see Marks) and produced a variety of pottery, including earthenware and stoneware. While it has been suggested that this pattern is properly called “The Good Samaritan,” the design was described as “Gipsey” when it was first published by Staffordshire potters Jones and Walley in 1841, no doubt because of the figures in front of a tent and around a fire.  It is likely that Coxon is responsible for introducing this relatively new English design to the Bennett pottery.

Related examples: For Parian examples of the pattern from Bennington and the English factory of Jones and Walley, see Barret 1958, p. 47, pls. 60, 61; for a stoneware example made by Edward Walley’s Villa Pottery after 1845, see Mudge et al. 1985, p. 45.

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.


Provenance[George S. McKearin, Hoosick Falls, New York]; [George Abraham and Gilbert May Antiques, West Granville, Massachusetts]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1963; given to MFAH, by 1966.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
Impressed on underside: E. & W. BENNETT / CANTON AVENUE / BALTIMORE [MD.] [Barber 1976, p. 143]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Pitcher
E. & W. Bennett
c. 1850–1856
Lead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
B.57.23
Teapot
E. & W. Bennett
c. 1850–1852
Lead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
B.57.22.A,.B
Shaving Mug
E. & W. Bennett
c. 1850–1855
Lead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
B.57.24
Pitcher
c. 1849–1858
Lead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
B.57.48
Pitcher
Brockville Works
c. 1850–1907
Lead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
B.63.15
Pitcher
c. 1855–1875
Lead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
B.63.17
Mug
E. & W. Bennett
c. 1850–1855
Lead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
B.2013.22
Mug
c. 1844–1858
Lead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
B.63.113
Toby Barrel Flask or Bottle
c. 1840–1850
Lead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
B.57.30
Candlestick
mid-19th century
Lead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
B.57.37.1
Pitcher
c. 1850–1900
Lead-glazed earthenware (Rockingham ware)
B.62.36
Dinner Plate
c. 1760–1780
Lead-glazed earthenware (tortoiseshell ware)
B.56.77