A few weeks ago, we welcomed Dominy experts, Charles Keller and Glenn Purcell to our current collections storage facility to discuss some of our exceptional Dominy pieces, which we will showcase in an upcoming summer exhibition. As we were all exiting the building, Charles spotted with enthusiasm this ceramic bell which sat on one of the shelves. “Wow, you have one of the 300th Anniversary bells!” he exclaimed, which inspired us to examine this artifact more closely.
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Charles explained that the bell was made by Maude Sherwood Jewett (1875–1953), a local artist who exhibited her work at Clinton Academy in the early 1900s. Her home, known as the “Inkpot,” was a creative haven for East End artists for decades. The occasion for Jewett making the bell was the celebration of East Hampton’s tricentennial in 1948. It’s believed she made 300 of them that were sold as a fundraiser for that year’s anniversary events. In her 1998 East Hampton Star article, Joanne Pilgrim mentions that the bells are made of clay and display noticeable local landmarks to symbolize the town of East Hampton, such as Hook Mill and Home Sweet Home. The article also mentions how the bells were green in color, which Charles had likewise mentioned.
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However, the Historical Society’s bell is brown instead of green, and we discovered that another bell is blue! It was presented by Joan Denny, former LVIS president to Bruce Collins to honor his work chairing East Hampton’s 350th Anniversary in 1998.
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Might Maude Jewett have designed and tested different colors for the bell during its prototype stage, like any good artist would do? Do you have one of these Tricentennial bells or a story about them? If so, tell us what color it is and share your story with us via Facebook or Instagram. We would love to know if more exist!
