Images(4)

Jug

Object number2010.14.8

Datebefore 1910

OriginItaly

MediumClay; Glaze

Credit LineGift of Marilyn Di Matteis

DescriptionCeramic oil jug, small. Brown/dark orange with green glaze. Handle. Small rounded spout.Dimensions3.5 x 4.25 x 3.375 in. (8.9 x 10.8 x 8.6 cm)
Historical NotesPart of a collection from donor Marilyn Di Matteis' family, in particular her parents Phillipo and Elvira Di Matteis, who were married in West Virginia in 1934. This oil jug was brought by Phillipo Di Matteis to Dennison, Ohio, where he first emigrated. It was his mother's in Italy and had much sentimental meaning because he was the youngest child and used to help her cook. It was made before 1910. The collection represents three generations of donor Marilyn Di Matteis' family of Italian Americans in the Western Pennsylvania area. Her father was born in the United States, went back to Italy, and then returned as a young teenager in the mid-1920s. His family stayed behind in Italy. He had a very difficult relationship with his father and revered his mother. The donor's mother (Elvira Martinelli) was born in Italy and came to the United States as a young girl, though she was never naturalized until the late 1940s. Her family settled in Dennison, Ohio, to work on the railroads but moved south to Weirton, West Virginia. The railroad work as not particularly constant, so other forms of work were often substituted, such as picking up vegetables in the Strip District when the train stopped in Pittsburgh and selling them in West Virginia to neighbors. The family also had a farm at various points in their lives. The young couple married in 1934 and bought a farm in the 1940s.

Previous owner Phillipo Di Matteis

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