William Pecker Dye Pot

I purchased this dye pot this past fall (pictured left). I picked it up at a country Labor Day auction in the middle of New Hampshire. It was incredibly dirty when I saw it. The fact that it had handles and it was glazed on the outside made me think it was something special (most dye and lard pots are not glazed on the outside), but I was not exactly sure who the maker could be. I had initially thought that it may be a Connecticut potter.

When I got it home and cleaned it with water --  I realized that I had seen a similar formed jar in a private North Shore (Boston) collection minus the handles. That jar was a flower pot. They both had the same glaze or very similar at the least. At this point I realized that the maker was William Pecker. I had no doubt about it.

Pecker is an extremely skilled potter who worked from 1784 until his death - by a collapsed kiln of all ways, in 1820 - from West Amesbury, Massachusetts. The area is known today as Merrimacport.

At this same auction I also picked up the Osborn Family made Gonic, New Hampshire pitcher (pictured right).

The dye pot may be one of a kind. There probably aren't too many that Pecker made and glazed. This is the only one that I have ever seen. What struck me most about the dye pot is that each handle had two finger impressions - which for a dye pot as far as I know is unique. Finger impressions are kind of like the potter's signature...no two are alike. Knowledgeable collector's, dealers and institutions in some cases can attribute a piece of pottery through the thumb print alone.

I had initially thought it was a Hervey Brooks made dye pot (pictured above). He worked out of Goshen, Connecticut during the 19th century and is known for these type forms. Up until I found this jar - Brooks was the only New England potter that I knew of who added handles to dye pots. I was wrong. I now know two facts -- Pecker made dye pots and Pecker added handles to his dye pots.

Pecker Experimental Glazes

Pecker's basic glazes were a cinnamon colored orange on the vessel's body with manganese decoration swiped on top of it, but he also experimented with other glaze colors.

I also learned not too long ago that Pecker had ties to the Charlestown stoneware industry. It is believed that his uncle in-law was a Charlestown Potter. He trained under his brother in-law, Benjamin Dodge for his first years of working in West Amesbury - before Dodge sold his business and Pecker ventured out to begin his own in the same area. Dodge married Pecker's sister - and Dodge's Uncle was a Charlestown pottter.

This is one of the mysteries that was never really touched upon until Ceramics in America did a brief article on what was thought to be an obscure Pecker stoneware jar that showed up at a southern flea market a few years back.

There are a few signed Pecker stoneware jars known throughout New England. Lura Woodside Watkins did not discuss the idea of Pecker being a stoneware potter in her book, "Early New England Potters and Their Wares," which is considered to be the standard publication for New England Pottery. Pecker was not only a redware potter, but he was also a stoneware potter.

This Pecker made jug, like the one discussed in Ceramics in America shares many Charlestown like characteristics; form, style and glaze to name a few. My theory - even though I probably can not prove it, is that Pecker traveled down to Charlestown at some point and either trained or he created experimental stoneware jugs and jars with his uncle and brother in-law. That in my opinion is why only a few have shown up - it wasn't part of his regular operation. I'm hoping there are still more to be discovered. I know of four signed pieces.

It is my feeling that Pecker's jug above is as skilled as pieces made by Jonathan Fenton and Frederick Carpenter, who were using stoneware during the same period in Charlestown.

Frederick Carpenter

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc - Boston

Jonathan Fenton

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc - Boston

Pictured above is a stoneware jug that was found in a home in the greater Newburyport area. It is believed to be an unmarked Pecker jug. The texture of the glaze feels like no other stoneware piece I have ever handled. It feels more like a piece of redware. I believe this to be a William Pecker made one gallon jug. It is not signed - and like many stoneware potters of this time the only jugs and jars that were stamped were two gallon and greater. It also has a Charlestown form and glaze - along with being decorated similarly to the signed Pecker stoneware jug previously mentioned.

There is very little known about the Charlestown redware industry. In fact, it is a common knowledge amongst many redware collectors and institutions that redware was not produced in Charlestown. There was only a stoneware industry. This is inaccurate information.

I am working with the Boston Archaeological Department on this project. Charlestown's pottery industry was excavated during the Big Dig. I hope to discover similar facts about its potters and wares during my research while working with the Archeology Team. Stay tuned for much more....