Art Nouveau Cider Pitcher
1976.38.109 – Gift of George V. Michels
The artifacts and artworks in our collection are more than static objects; they
tell stories about the people who made and used them. They also tell stories
about the people who collected them. Thanks to high-quality internet
databases, such as Ancestry.com, Newsapapers.com, Fold 3 (the military
records database), online art databases, and high-powered search tools,
those stories are more accessible than ever. Sometimes, digging in the
data reveals a whole new story about the people associated with an object.
In 1976, George Michels donated a substantial collection of pitchers. The
written donation records indicated that they had belonged to his late wife,
Francis’ grandmother is in Oklahoma.
The hand-painted pitcher chosen for this Artifact of the Month is “Pearl Watson, 1913” on the bottom. Pearl is
the first name of the purported grandmother, which piqued my interest, so I
looked her up. A few hours on the internet revealed the more complicated
story behind this collection.
The compiled data indicated that Pearl Watson Robison (her stepfather)
Burns Burroughs (misspelled by the donor in the records) Burrows (1884-
1958), was indeed the artist who painted The Pitcher, and she did live around
Goodwell, Oklahoma, but she was nobody’s grandmother. Pearl was Francis’
ex-husband Tom Watson’s aunt. Francis and Tom were married from 1946-
1967, and Pearl passed in 1958.
Presumably, the pitcher collection and other family heirlooms in the donation were left to his father or him and wound up with Francis. Pearl’s mother, Olive Collins Robison’s 1937 obituary, indicates that Olive had an extensive collection of pitchers and old glass—and only one daughter. This is likely where the collection originated.
Pearl Robison Burns Burrows, as she is known to the art world, was more
than a hobby ceramics painter. She was a well-known Southwestern artist.
Her stepfather, David Robison, the first mayor of Dalhart, Texas, encouraged
her to pursue her talent. When this piece was painted, Pearl attended a
course at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, which might have been part of her coursework. She also attended summer art schools at Harvard and at the
Taos extension of the University of New Mexico. The story behind the physical object is also interesting. This cider pitcher was manufactured by Jean Pouyat, Limoges, France.
The Pouyat family was one of the oldest French names associated with porcelain in the Limoges region, dating back to the 1700’s. Jean Pouyat began a company in 1842 at Limoges, and his sons carried on the business after he died in 1849. About 1883, the company became known as La Ceramique. Although this cider pitcher is unmarked, it is probably a #5 mold used from 1890-1932.
The company made both pre-decorated wares, which would be marked JPL, and bisque ware “blanks” that could be painted by the purchaser. In this case, the only mark is Pearl’s name and the date on the base, indicating it was a “blank.”
