Unidentified
Pitcher
1799
Physical Qualities
Earthenware, transfer-printed decoration, 10 in. (25.4 cm.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Philip B. Perlman
Object Number
1960.41.30
In Election Jug, Erickson riffed on English transfer-printed jugs celebrating political leaders. In the place of a communal tavern pitcher, like the example featuring the first United States President George Washington (1732–1799) at left, Erickson modeled her vessel on a Clorox Bleach bottle. This container cites an interview where President Donald Trump (born 1946) responded to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 by suggesting scientists explore if people could inject themselves with toxic household cleaning solutions to combat the virus. Erickson masked Trump’s face with the Twitter bird, and he sits next to a syringe emblazoned with his own logo to symbolize an infectious effect on his followers.