Pitcher & Wash Basin
This pitcher, the basin and another companion piece, the covered soap dish, all came from Isabel Storie Day's (1830-1915) home. Her house was built in 1860 on the Somerville-Wegatchie Cross Road.
Her husband, William Day died in 1887. In an article titled, Outposts of Civilization, Frederick Remington wrote, "wash-basins are the advance-guards of progress." The article appeared in Harper's new monthly magazine Volume 88, Issue 523, December, 1893.
This washbasin and pitcher were being used in Gouverneur around the same time that Frederick Remington was in Mexico, writing about the significance of wash basins.
Click the image for a closer look.
The stamp on the bottom of the pitcher and basin, identifies this object as a Hall China product. Hall China, manufactured in East Liverpool, Ohio, is still in operation. The company was started in 1903 by Robert Hall. He began making dinnerware and toilet seats, but soon found that institutional ware such as bedpans, chamber pots and pitchers was more profitable. (Wikipedia)
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It seems, neither Mr. Day nor Frederick Remington could have used this basin and pitcher since Mr. Day died in 1887. But this pitcher and basin may have been used often by Mrs. Day. The pitcher, basin, soapdish and other items in the museum, were donated by Ben and Maizie Barker in January of 1976, when the museum opened.
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