Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
1936.4.885 |
Object Name |
Pitcher |
Description |
Glazed porcelain pitcher. The small souvenir pitcher has a four-lobed body with a gold scalloped lip and gold trimmed handle. On the front of the body is a columned governmental-type building in black. Above the door is the name "M Barnett" with the inscription "Old Slave Block, New Orleans, La" at the bottom. Made in Germany and imported to the US by the C. E. Wheelock Pottery Co., of South Bend, IN and Peoria, IL for C. B. Mason of Royal Street, New Orleans. C.B. Mason was a store specializing in souvenirs like postcards and ceramics. Made around the turn of the century, after the abolishment of slavery in the United States, this souvenir pitcher depicting a slave block where enslaved people were sold in New Orleans. It is a disturbing example of the white nostaliga for slavery that appeared in popular culture after the Civil War. The pitcher depicts a New Orleans "slave block"--a large stone used as auction blocks in historical auctions of enslaved people. Unlike many southern cities, New Orleans did not confine its slave trade to one location. Multiple locations, including hotels, private residences, parks, and commercial complexes all served as sites for the buying and selling of human beings. This pitcher depicts a slave block that stood under the grand rotunda at the St. Louis Exchange Hotel, which was one of the main locations for slave auctions in the mid-1800s in the South. |
Title |
Pitcher |
Date |
c. 1900 |
Role of Creator |
Importer |
Creator |
C.E. Wheelock Pottery Co. |
Material |
porcelain |
Dimensions |
H-3.125 W-4 inches |
Credit line |
Bequest of Nella C. Moss in memory of Laura Moss Hensely and James A. Hensely |
Place of Origin |
Europe/Germany |
Subjects |
Ceramic industries Hotels Pitchers Racism Slave trade Slavery Souvenirs Trade |