Minoan terracotta ewers, about 2200 BCE
A pitcher is a container with a spout for pouring its contents. Pitch was
traditionally used to help caulk the seams of wooden sailing
vessels. It was heated, then put into a container with a very long spout and poured over rope fibers which had first been "paid" (pressed) into the gap. The word pitcher is said to derive from this
long spouted container used to pour hot pitch. Several phrases in popular use today date to this maritime usage. The term "the devil to pay" is said to derive from this usage.
The full phrase was "the devil to pay, and no pitch hot". The "devil" in question being the most outward plank, the most difficult one to caulk.
A ewer is a pitcher, often decorated, with a base, oval body, and flaring spout. A famous example is the
America's Cup trophy.
Gallery
Ewer from Iran, dated 1180-1210CE. Repousse brass
inlaid with silver and bitumen, NY Metropolitan Museum
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Eleanor Roosevelt's silver water pitcher
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