Object Details
Artist
Roberto Lugo, born Philadelphia, PA 1981
Sitter
Frederick Douglass
Anna Murray Douglass
Exhibition Label
“I put these stories on pottery because pottery lasts forever. It is how we know about cultures past, and I refuse to have our stories forgotten. We are here and demand to be seen as sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, and not dispensable beings.” —Roberto Lugo
This vase celebrates the contributions of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and his wife, Anna Murray Douglass. While Frederick Douglass’s life story is well known, Anna Murray more quietly supported her husband’s projects, their growing family, and local anti-slavery causes. When the family lived in Rochester, New York, Anna Murray opened the family home to freedom seekers as part of the Underground Railroad. The Douglass family later moved to Washington, DC, and in 1877 they purchased Cedar Hill, a home in the Anacostia neighborhood, where Anna Murray died in 1882.
This Present Moment: Crafting a Better World, 2022
Credit Line
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase in part through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center, and the Howard Kottler Endowment for Ceramic Art
Date
2021
Object number
2022.5
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
Decorative Arts-Ceramic
Crafts
Medium
glazed ceramic with enamel paint
Dimensions
30 1/2 × 15 1/2 × 17 5/8 in. (77.5 × 39.4 × 44.8 cm)
See more items in
Smithsonian American Art Museum Collection
Department
Renwick Gallery
Data Source
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Topic
Portrait male\bust
Portrait female
Link to Original Record
Record ID
saam_2022.5