Oddly Shaped Early Southeastern, Massachusetts Redware Jar

This is arguably one of the neatest forms I have ever seen in the world of early American redware. It is my knowledge that fewer than a dozen examples are known to exist today. I personally only know of less than five and that includes the following example which resides in a Massachusetts museum collection. There very-well likely may be less-than five known. I am merely assuming more may exist.

Likely Southeastern, Massachusetts Redware Jar

Early 19th Century

Height: 9 3/4 Inches

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Ma

Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts describes the jar as having a pinched waist that formed two bulges inside the jar's body. The jar is without a cover, but at one time one did exist. The museum does not give a proper attribution or is the area of origin mentioned. It is thought the jar may have been manufactured sometime during the early nineteenth-century.

This particular jar was pictured in the short booklet, "Early New England Pottery," that Old Sturbridge Village published in 1966. It was written by Lura Woodside Watkins. This booklet was written after Watkins authored her very important book, "Early New England Potters and Their Wares." Interestingly, Watkins does not mention this form in her book. It is assumed to be that rare.

In the collector world, these unique jars are thought to be associated with Bristol County or Southeastern, Massachusetts. The above mentioned jar is very similar in form to the covered ovoid redware jars that many have come to expect as a typical form of nineteenth-century Southeastern, Massachusetts.

Likely Southeastern, Massachusetts

Early 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston

Likely Southeastern, Massachusetts

Early 19th Century 

Sold for $29,375 in 2007

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc - Boston

Likely Southeastern, Massachusetts

Early 19th Century

Ex Hilarly and Paulette Nolan Collection - Cape Cod, Ma

Photo Courtesy: Samuel Herrup Antiques - Sheffield, Ma

The Southeastern, Massachusetts potters are believed to have worked in a variety of styles and forms that included, but were not limited to - pitchers, jugs, field jugs, mugs, milk pans, stew pots, covered ovoid jars, covered straight sided jars, plates, bowls, cups, saucers and such. I have heard some say the previous  pictured jars were used for ginger storage. Unfortunately, I am unable to say if that statement is completely accurate. However, it is interesting. I have never heard any other forms of New England redware suggested with the idea of ginger before. In-fact, I can not recall ever hearing the use of ginger and redware put in the same sentence before. It could make for an interesting future discussion.

There were as many as a dozen known and unknown potters who worked along the Taunton River during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth-centuries. It is not entirely known who made exactly what. The river provided these highly-accomplished potters a means of easy transportation to ship their wares to nearby communities that likely included New Bedford, Massachusetts. While many of these described Southeastern, Massachusetts examples have surfaced in New Bedford, it is not entirely known, if there was a potter or potters who worked in the maritime community.

I feel William Pecker of West Amesbury (today known as Merrimacport), Massachusetts and his pottery operation could be a fair comparison to the potters of Southeastern, Massachusetts. To begin, they all worked around the same period. Pecker worked only a matter of miles upriver from Newburyport, Massachusetts along the Merrimac River. It is assumed that many of his wares were shipped from West Amesbury to Newburyport, while working just outside the limits of the area's major city. Pecker never actually worked in the city, rather in the nearby countryside. I assume this same idea could be formed for the early potters working alongside the Taunton River.

The oddly shaped jar of discussion has left many with a misunderstanding of why its form was created. I understand the jar was likely used for dry-goods, much like the so-called described "ginger jars."  Aside from that, what possibly could the rare form's purpose been served for? It seems that adding the pinch would only take away from additional storage space. The wares of this period were solely about utilitarian needs and practical use. I'm left with mainly one answer - it was an experiment. The potters of Southeastern, Massachusetts are especially known for their experimentation with form and glaze. That's all this merely may have ever been. It may have been as little as a one-time firing with very-few examples to begin with. If that is the case, I find it amazing that any have survived. 

What do you think? Any thoughts? I really do not have any ideas or explanation for the form other than simple experimentation and artistic expression by the potter.

Today, most would likely view this jar as a platform for art. I wonder what went through the potter's mind when he or she first saw this jar leave the kiln and head to market. Did they like their creation or not? It is interesting. I have been fortunate to see a few of these examples in person and I am extremely impressed with them all.

The early American potters industry was really a business. That's why potters worked - it was their job. I have seen it first hand within the Charlestown, Massachusetts collection. Potters did not tend to experiment with form as much as they did with glaze. It would have been a waste of supplies and time to experiment with a form that the marketplace did not accept and this is why I question the idea behind this Southeastern, Massachusetts form, purpose, and use.

More research to come...