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  • We acquired this object.

2019

2025

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Model, Sarracenia Purpurea

This is a Model. It is dated 1875–1898. Its medium is wood, papier-mâché, cardboard, plaster, reed pith, metal, string, feathers, gelatin, glass and bone glue beads, cloth, metallic thread, horsehair, hemp, silk threads, paint, and shellac varnish. It is a part of the department.

Sarracenia purpurea is a carnivorous pitcher plant indigenous to North America, which feeds mainly on insects, beetles, and spiders. Native Americans have used the plant for various medicinal purposes, including as a diuretic and assisting in childbirth. The genus Sarracenia was named by Carl Linnaeus after Michel Sarrazin, a French physician in Canada who worked for the court of Louis XIV of France and sent specimens of the plant to Europe.

It is credited Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

  • Leaf Pitcher
  • earthenware, eosin glaze.
  • Museum purchase from Charles E. Sampson Memorial Fund.
  • 2007-3-1
  • Sidewall, Walnut
  • chromo-lithographed.
  • Gift of Wallpaper Council, Inc..
  • 1960-163-28
  •

Its dimensions are

H x W x D: 48.3 × 15.2 × 15.2 cm (19 × 6 × 6 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Botanical Lessons.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318793586/ |title=Model, Sarracenia Purpurea |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=5 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>