Object Spotlight: Washington’s Watering Can
In 1760 George Washington ordered “4 large Watering potts,” using the 18th-century nomenclature for watering cans. In an era before water sprinklers, these handy garden tools were one of the next-best things. Today, Mount Vernon has two such receptacles in its possession.
Watering cans helped sustain the tremendous gardening operation at Mount Vernon and were used by Mount Vernon’s British gardener and the slaves who worked for him.
Keeping up with the family’s appetite plus their guests’ was no small task. In one year alone the Washingtons stored between 500 and 700 bushels of potatoes and 100 bushels of turnips in Mount Vernon’s cellar. The Washingtons’ table included these plus peas, onions, carrots, beans, cabbages, cauliflowers, leeks, parsnips and beets, as well as the more labor-intensive (and therefore highly esteemed) artichokes, celery and asparagus.
Anticipating his return from the presidency, George Washington once commented, “I shall expect an abundance of everything in the gardens” since Mount Vernon would soon be “crowded with company.”
Washington had a cistern built in his lower kitchen garden that kept a ready-supply of tepid water for his plants’ imbibing needs. The cans, which were made in either France or England, were used by gardeners who kept the Washington vegetation well-hydrated by sprinkling water out of the cans’ bulbous, perforated head, or “rose.”
Interested in Washington’s watering cans? Until mid-May a “watering pot” owned by Washington is on display in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center. It will be removed for conservation and will reappear next February in the upcoming exhibition Hoecakes and Hospitality: Cooking with Martha Washington. Visitors to Mount Vernon’s Discover the Real George Washington traveling exhibit will also see one of Washington’s originals.
Object Spotlight is a regular feature on George Washington Wired that highlights some of the household belongings that Washington came into contact with. Assistant curator Jennifer Van Horn contributed to this report. The photo of a cistern and a watering can, which is not a Washington original, is by Ted Vaughan. Check out Mount Vernon’s eMuseum to find more of Washington’s belongings.
Watering pot, c. 1700-1800: Gift of Thomas Blagden, 1916 [W-1052/A]
May 6th, 2011 at 11:15 am
How delightful! I love watering cans. I think they’re small works of art, and I have a little collection myself. In fact, I’m planning to paint one this weekend!