posted 05-20-2019 11:26 AM            

Moll Pitcher's Prophecies

posted 05-20-2019 04:53 PM            

quote:

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THE MOll PITCHER SPOON

Lynn, Mass., pays tribute to Moll Pitcher, a figure suggestive of the superstition prevalent among the settlers of New England. She seems to have been a subject of holy horror to mariners navigating the coast during the early days. They solemnly consulted her when they were about to leave their ports, and the predictions of the seer were implicitly believed in. Moll, of whom Whittier wrote, was undoubtedly a woman of education, great shrewdness and discernment.

The design in the spoon depicts the tall figure of the fortune-teller, leaning with both hands upon a staff or crutch, her head forward between bent shoulders. The black I cat which lore tells us was her constant companion, is shown rubbling its sleeky sides along her legs. The workmanship of the figures brings out all the realistic effects, the lines and posture of age, and the weirdness of costume being perfectly reproduced. The words, Moll Pitcher, are in raised letters arranged diagonally under the figures, and the name Lynn in rustic, perpendicular letters is stamped down the remainder of the handle. The design altogether is a well-executed and characteristic one and reflects credit on its originator, W. F. Newhall, Lynn, Mass., who controls the sale and manufacture of the spoon.

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