Jug (Harvest jug or pitcher)

Description

The 1698 date on this fine and large harvest jug is unusually early. Few vessels of this type have early histories in America, but according to a june 13, 1960-dated letter in the Winterthur files, featuring the remarks of Mrs. Celeste Sammons Kelton of Hockessin, Delaware, this "Wine pitcher used by British [Soldiers] during Revolutionary War. Entered this country in Southern Delaware." The jug, passed down through the daughters of the family, descended from the Turner family, near Chipman's Mill, Delaware, to a Mrs. Susan Walls of Middleford, DE (near Seaford), eventually being given to Mrs. Kelton. Before this, the history of the pitcher is unknown. In 1963, when a the jug was offered for sale to Winterthur, the vessel was at Zwanendael House in Lewes, DE.