Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Independent Order of Odd Fellows Pitcher
1845
Maker not marked
England: Liverpool
Transfer-printed and overpainted porcelain
overall: 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 10 in.; 19.05 x 19.05 x 25.4 cm
Special Acquisitions Fund
79.11.1

Independent Order of Odd Fellows pitcher; six-sided pitcher with transfer and overpaint decoration; designs include Justice with Bible, Charity (woman with children), "The First of these is Love" with hand and heart; under spout, all-seeing eye with three links; seal of United States "In God We Trust / Friendship, Love and Truth" with beehive; cornucopia with Faith, Hope and Charity encircled by "We command you to visit the sick, Relieve the distressed, Bury the Dead and Educate the Orphan"; all-black transfer printed with overpaint in red, yellow, blue, brown, green; on base, transfer printed "Entered According / to / Act of / Congress by / William S. Pine / Grd Secy / 1845"; marked on bottom, "Clark Levering and Co / Importers / Baltimore."

From 1845 to 1846 William S. Pine (ca. 1810-1892) served as the Grand Secretary of the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows in Delaware which, at the time, counted five lodges and under 300 members in its jurisdiction. This colorful pitcher, decorated with transfer prints of important symbols in Odd Fellowship, bears his name, the office he held, and a copyright year, 1845. A resident of Wilmington, Pine worked as a hatter, and was a member of Washington Lodge No. 1. In addition to his name, this six-paneled bright white porcelain pitcher with a gold-painted rim and handle, features eleven transfer prints of symbols important in Odd Fellowship. Just under the rim are prints, colored with paint, of an open Bible, a heart in hand, a beehive, crossed arrows, and a cornucopia. Below these are prints of the three links of Odd Fellowship, an all-seeing eye, and figures representing justice and charity. Another print combines symbols of the United States—an eagle and a red, white, and blue shield, with a banner bearing one of the group’s mottos, “Friendship, Love, and Truth.” The most elaborate print is of the seal of the Odd Fellows Grand Lodge of United States (adopted in 1833), surrounded by the motto, “We command you to visit the sick relieve the distressed bury the dead and educate the orphan."