This brown glazed water pitcher is in excellent condition with no chips or cracks and is pressed on each side to produce raised floral motifs and the US medical staff insignia adopted in 1902, a winged staff and two entwined snakes, along with a pair of clasped hands below that and the motto “Peace and Plenty” in a ribbon scroll at bottom. This seems rather too fancy for use by the patients at the mess tables or in hospital wards and more likely intended for use in the officers’ mess by the surgeons and assistant surgeons assigned to a facility.

The clasped hands as a symbol of piece and the motto may be a general sentiment or a specific reference. It could refer to the end of the Philippine Insurrection, which followed on the heels of the Spanish American War and was officially declared as over by the U.S. in July 1902, fitting the date that medical insignia was adopted. Or, it might refer to national reconciliation after the end of the Civil War, since clasped hands show up on some later G.A.R. badges or veteran badges, suggesting the possibility this was intended for the staff of a veterans’ hospital. It would make a great addition in any case to a military medical collection.  [sr][ph:L]

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