My Definition of "early" Pottery
Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston
I was extremely disappointed when I arrived. My idea of early I guess was a little different than what others may consider. I understand that 19th century is early, but I considered early to be earlier.
The auction hall was packed with middle-of-the-road type antique dealers. I tried, but I couldn't find anything that interested me. It was a typical estate auction - and what I would refer to as a junk auction. The sale offered mostly decorative accessories and furniture - rather than the historically important arts that I have much more of an interest in. The majority of what I saw was custom furniture, Victorian Period collectibles and twentieth-century decorative design. It was absolutely not my kind of auction. The ceramics were disappointing. I had hoped for some early imported wares, but the best I saw was an average Marblehead, Massachusetts Arts and Crafts Period bowl. It was very similar to the bowl pictured below.
Marblehead, Ma bowl
Photo Courtesy: Frank Kaminski Auctions - Beverly, Ma
I feel I have a good discipline at auctions. Many auction goers may have felt an obligation to bid on at least one lot or item since they had driven so far, however, that's not the way I approach an auction. Before the auction begins, I determine what my interests are. I then decide what my spending limit will be. People can and very often tend to get carried away at auctions. I figure out what I will spend and if the bidding goes past that amount then it wasn't meant to be. There will always be another day and more pottery. The number one rule anyone should follow at an auction; do not get caught up in the moment. It's all hype - don't let the crowd, excitement or auctioneer persuade you into becoming emotionally involved in the auction. This has always been my approach and I stand by it. On this particular day, I chose to leave.
Rather than driving home, I looked around the area antique shops in the Lake's region. I started in Meredith, New Hampshire. There were a handful of shops in the downtown area facing the lake. I visited all of them and there was very little that interested me. All the shops were your typical average antique shops. There were no hidden gems that I could see, mostly second-hand "old stuff". At this point - I chose to call it a day and head home. I figured it wasn't my day. Everyone involved in the antique businss - whether it being a collector or dealer, has these kinds of days.You can't find a buried treasure everyday.
On my way home to Newburyport, Massachusetts, I decided to take a short detour and check out the shops within the downtown area of Laconia. The first few shops were basically second hand thrift shops. There was nothing for me. I then proceeded to visit the other side of the downtown area. The area was somewhat made made up of two streets. This is where I found three legitimate vintage antique shops. From these three, I started with the largest store, which I will keep anonymous because I don't want to give away any of the places that I enjoy "picking" at. If I have found an important piece once, there is no reason not to believe that a find isn't possible in the same location again.
Within only a matter of minutes, I had come across an unusual piece of stoneware with a maker's mark I had only seen once before - and that was at a decent show. The two gallon stoneware jug sat on the floor beneath a booth that displayed early twentieth-century common pottery. I picked the jug off the floor and glanced it over. There were no issues with it other than the expected wear that one would see on a piece of utilitarian pottery that was more than a hundred-fifty-years old. I saw the price and I really had no excuse to set it back. It didn't really make any financial sense to do so. The similar jug I had seen this past fall at a Massachusetts show with the same maker's mark and gallon size was priced ten-times what the shop was asking in price. I quickly looked up auction results on my iPhone and the only auction result I found through LiveAuctioneers was eight times the asking price. For those of you who don't know - LiveAuctioneers is an online site that many of the major American auction houses use to offer live remote bidding via the internet, while the auction is ongoing live. If you have an account, you can search the auction results. The auction result I found was from May 2011 so it was still relevant.
I brought the jug up front and asked the store keeper if I could make an offer on the piece of stoneware. She said that the best the consignor would do was twenty-dollars off. That seemed fair to me. I left the stoneware jug with the shop keeper while I finished taking in the sights of the store. At the checkout, the woman told me that a man had just come into the store, saw the jug on the counter and tried purchasing it. Fortunately, I had already committed to buying it.
I am not typically a stoneware collector outside of the Boston and Charlestown made wares. I own some New York and New England-made forms, which include a one-gallon jug made by Thomas Crafts of Whately, Massachusetts, but overall my focus is redware made within the northeast.
Thomas Crafts was instrumental in establishing a large pottery presence in Whately. He made both stoneware and redware - and is probably most known for the teapots he produced during the early years of the nineteenth-century. The glaze on Whately teapots are similar to the jet-black wares produced in Jackfield, England of the time. I would assume that Crafts teapots were exported to such cities as Boston, New York and Philadelphia - and his teapots competed against the imported English wares. It appears that this was a constant competition between both American and English potters that began during the Colonial Period and continued into the years that followed the American Revolution.
Within only a matter of minutes, I had come across an unusual piece of stoneware with a maker's mark I had only seen once before - and that was at a decent show. The two gallon stoneware jug sat on the floor beneath a booth that displayed early twentieth-century common pottery. I picked the jug off the floor and glanced it over. There were no issues with it other than the expected wear that one would see on a piece of utilitarian pottery that was more than a hundred-fifty-years old. I saw the price and I really had no excuse to set it back. It didn't really make any financial sense to do so. The similar jug I had seen this past fall at a Massachusetts show with the same maker's mark and gallon size was priced ten-times what the shop was asking in price. I quickly looked up auction results on my iPhone and the only auction result I found through LiveAuctioneers was eight times the asking price. For those of you who don't know - LiveAuctioneers is an online site that many of the major American auction houses use to offer live remote bidding via the internet, while the auction is ongoing live. If you have an account, you can search the auction results. The auction result I found was from May 2011 so it was still relevant.
I brought the jug up front and asked the store keeper if I could make an offer on the piece of stoneware. She said that the best the consignor would do was twenty-dollars off. That seemed fair to me. I left the stoneware jug with the shop keeper while I finished taking in the sights of the store. At the checkout, the woman told me that a man had just come into the store, saw the jug on the counter and tried purchasing it. Fortunately, I had already committed to buying it.
I am not typically a stoneware collector outside of the Boston and Charlestown made wares. I own some New York and New England-made forms, which include a one-gallon jug made by Thomas Crafts of Whately, Massachusetts, but overall my focus is redware made within the northeast.
Thomas Crafts was instrumental in establishing a large pottery presence in Whately. He made both stoneware and redware - and is probably most known for the teapots he produced during the early years of the nineteenth-century. The glaze on Whately teapots are similar to the jet-black wares produced in Jackfield, England of the time. I would assume that Crafts teapots were exported to such cities as Boston, New York and Philadelphia - and his teapots competed against the imported English wares. It appears that this was a constant competition between both American and English potters that began during the Colonial Period and continued into the years that followed the American Revolution.
Early 19th Century Teapot - Possibly Thomas Haig - Philadelphia, Pa
Photo Courtesy: Cowan's Auctions - Cincinnati, OH
Thomas Crafts Teapot - Whately, Ma
Early 19th Century
Photo Courtesy: Northeast Auctions - Portsmouth, NH
The Thomas Crafts site in Whately has been dug for artifacts. While it was not professionally excavated by an archaeological team, local historian and author, David Graci has found shards that are similar to the above mentioned teapot at the site.
Crafts Pottery Shard
Photo Courtesy: David Graci
Crafts Pottery Shard
Photo Courtesy: David Graci
David Graci's results have also yielded other forms of pottery that included redware and stoneware. Thomas Crafts worked with a partner, Sanford Perry - who made a similar formed redware teapot. Here is a link for further reading about both potters.
Thomas Crafts & Co 1 Gallon Stoneware Jug
Whately, Ma
Maker's Mark
The Crafts family of potters were a large family that included ten additional potters, who worked in Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. There were a handful of potters that worked in Whately outside of the Crafts Family. Ashfield, Massachusetts also maintained its own industry of the same period and this community was located next door to Whately. The area is known today for having a strong redware and stoneware culture.
The Crafts Family produced many accomplished potters and among them was Thomas Crafts' son, Martin Crafts. Martin trained under his father Thomas, in Whately during his early years. After his training, he left Massachusetts and is credited with being one of the first, if not the pioneer stoneware potter in the state of Maine. He worked in Portland from 1834 to 1839, working alongside Eleazor Orcutt, an accomplished Troy, New York potter, who had relocated. This venture did not last long as five years after arriving in Maine, Martin left. His brother, Caleb Crafts continued the Crafts pottery tradition in Portland after his departure.
Orcutt and Crafts Pottery - Portland, Me
Photo Courtesy: Maine State Museum
Martin Crafts left Maine to join his brother James, in Nashua, New Hampshire. Martin's stoneware business did not see longstanding success in New Hampshire. The business only lasted from 1839 until 1851. The historical context of Crafts stoneware in Nashua can be compared to the ceramics that were attempted by Benjamin Leigh and Jonathan Allman at the "New-Boston" Pottery in Boston, Massachusetts in 1769. The overall geographic landscape was not ideal for New England stoneware potters or refined ceramics as both Leigh and Allman discovered. In most instances, the proper clay had to be shipped to the manufacturer and it did not make a good business sense to pay such a price. The proper clays were shipped from such locations as New York State and New Jersey. States like Maine and New Hampshire did not produce much for stoneware because of this concept and ultimate disadvantage. Stoneware was still sold in New Hampshire by merchants, however the jars or jugs were produced elsewhere - and the merchants stamp was impressed with whomever the means of distribution became.
A.M. Eastman Stoneware Jar - Manchester, NH
Photo Courtesy: Royka's Auction - Lunenberg, Ma
Martin Crafts is regarded as the only potter (or at the least, the earliest) who successfully produced stoneware in the state of New Hampshire. This was the maker's mark that was impressed within the stoneware jug that I found in Laconia.
Martin Crafts 2 Gallon Stoneware Jug
Nashua, NH
Maker's Mark
Martin Crafts left Nashua in 1851 and returned home to Whately, where he briefly worked with his father, Thomas - before heading to California. Let me also add that he was working in Boston around 1850 attempting to setup a means of distribution for his stoneware, which if successful, may have made his Nashua work much more longstanding. Today his wares are viewed as rare and collectible. While I cannot prove it at this time - it would be extremely interesting if there is a California gold rush means for his western destination. That would certainly add to his legend and collector's appeal. It also not known if he continued manufacturing pottery out west.
The stoneware jug came with a rather interesting provenance. Attached was a paper tag, that identified the jug as found on September 22, 1989. It read that it was purchased from the home of Ray Larsson located at 57 Province Street in Laconia. The tag also mentions that the jug was covered in red paint, which the previous owner successfully removed. The idea of paint reminded me of a similar stoneware jar I had recently read a story about. That jar had been discovered at a southern auction. It had been removed from a Georgia Plantation and it too, was covered in paint. Here is the article. Paint and stoneware may have had some sort of artistic appeal over the years as it is not uncommon to find stoneware covered in old paint today.
I feel this is a fun story of how collecting ceramics should be. These are the types of stories that I enjoy hearing the old-time collectors tell. Anyone can go to a high-end auction or high-end show and pay top dollar where they are told what exactly it is they are buying. I find it much more fun holding the confidence to walk into a much lesser setting and use my knowledge to identify the good from the bad - and make a proper attribution. Not to exclude, I also pay a whole lot less with this approach. A longtime dealer and collector once told me that collecting is meant to be fun. It shouldn't be stressful. This idea couldn't prove more true.
More to follow...
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