RARE FRIENDS BLOOMINGDALE ACADEMY / ANNAPOLIS POTTERY, INDIANA EARTHENWARE / REDWARE PITCHER, single Albany-slip glaze to interior, approximately one-gallon capacity, ovoid form with plain, slightly flaring rim, applied rounded handle, and pronounced foot. Applied grape vine with two grape bunches and three large leaves, having seven sets of incised initials adjacent to handle and "Jun - 13, 1885." below. Together with a related unglazed 8 1/4" D earthenware/redware cover with applied grapevine decorations, having "M.P." below finial. Two pieces total. Dated 1885. 9 3/4" H, 5 3/8" D rim.
Catalogue Note: The Bloomingdale Academy was founded by the Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1846. Located in Parke County, IN, it was originally known as the Western Manual Labor School. The school was founded on the principal that students of both sexes would receive an education in return for their labor on the farm or in the workshops of the institution. According to an attached note, some students attended classes in pottery making at the nearby Annapolis Pottery. The "L.H." initials located below the handle on the pitcher reportedly stand for student "Laura Hill". The initials "M.P." appear on both the jug and the cover. In 1916, the academy closed its doors indefinitely, as the local township decided to institute the more common high school configuration.

Pitcher in excellent visual condition having some professional restoration to applied decorations; cover having losses to applied vine decoration including some grapes.