Charles A. Lawrence - Ancient-Style Pottery Discovered

"The art connoisseurs who visit Cape Ann will find in Beverly one of the most attractive institutions that the country affords, in the works of the Beverly pottery. Here they will see accurate reproductions of all the best specimens of ancient pottery, literal copies of some of the finest pieces now in the old world art museums...Mr. Charles A. Lawrence established the present pottery in continuation of those previously here, and has worked out great improvements in the kind of work in many convenient and curious devices, attaining a large sale, and many visitors come to see and purchase the curious specimens of clay handiwork they made." (North Shore of Massachusetts Bay: An Illustrated Guide and History - Hill & Nevins - 2008)

Do you remember last week's report on the The Unexpected Roman Influence of the 19th Century American Utilitarian Redware Industry?
Report

I briefly wrote of the Beverly, Massachusetts potter, Charles Lawrence and the Grecian style creations he manufactured between 1875 and 1880. The ancient reproductions were reportedly only made on a per order basis - which means, if a customer did not place an order - additional examples were not produced. The product line mainly targeted the women of Boston through local advertising of the late 1870s.

I wonder how many examples were possibly produced in that five-year period - especially if the designs were not a part of everyday production? I assume there are not many surviving examples today.

The only example I knew of until recently, lives in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The Grecian-style pitcher is currently on display in the museum's American Wing in room 774.

Guess what?! I discovered a Beverly ancient jar that I feel is equal to if not better than the Metropolitan Museum of Art's example in a vintage shop in New Hampshire yesterday. I was told it was fresh-to-market from a New Hampshire home. They described the jar as an "old pot" and possibly from Italy in a Roman form and decoration. I will agree the jar is old, but its surely not Italian.

The Beverly pot is pictured below with a traditional nineteenth-century flower pot sitting to its right for an idea of its size.

Charles A. Lawrence Roman-Style Redware Jar - Beverly, Ma

Made Between 1875-1880
The Flower Pot Gives a Good Idea of the Jar's Size
Extremely Rare Design

Charles Lawrence Redware Pitcher - Beverly, Ma

Greek Revival Period

Circa 1875-1880

Photo Courtesy: Metropolitan Museum of Art - NYC 

Charles Lawrence Stamped the Bottom

Photo Courtesy: Metropolitan Museum of Art - NYC

The extremely rare example I found appears to have at one time displayed a paper label attached to its base - which is unlike the Metropolitan Museum of Art's example - that shows a stamp bearing Lawrence's name, company and city of production. It can be assumed that both stamps and paper labels were used on the Beverly examples.

Base Appears to Have Had a Paper Label at One Time

Wonderful Fish Decoration

Wonderful Leaf Decoration

The Jar or Vase Was Hand Turned

Below is a period advertisement that sites the production of old world Grecian style vases, urns, pitchers and probably other forms in Beverly - that very little is known of today. Harvard Professor Lura Woodside Watkins wrote extensively of New England's earliest potters in her mid-twentieth-century book, "Early New England Potters and Their Wares" and made no mention of any type of production of ancient pottery reproductions in Beverly. I assume its a result of the product line's limited production and rarity.

Early Beverly, Ma Pottery Advertisement

Includes Mention of Ancient Pottery

Charles Lawrence opened the doors of his Beverly pottery in 1866. He worked for roughly forty-years before the company closed in 1906. The most accomplished examples were all made before 1880 - where a number of utilitarian forms were decorated in an extremely colorful glaze. The post 1880 wares were much more basic and utilitarian in glaze and decoration.

Charles Lawrence Redware Pitcher - Beverly, Ma

 Circa 1870

Photo Courtesy: Samuel Herrup Antiques - Sheffield, Ma

I have a simple question for each of you. Do you know how Boston got its nickname, "Beantown?" I will tell you that it is tied to Charles Lawrence and his pottery.

Give up?!

Civil War soldiers returning home in 1890, "remarked to friends and families about the souvenir bean pot they got in Beantown." Lawrence was commissioned by a Civil War group to make bean pots for each soldier to keep as a memory of Boston. With that idea in mind - the nickname "Beantown" was born.

I wonder what would have happened to Boston's nickname if Lawrence had chosen to make souvenir flasks???

Or even - jugs? That name is already given to the pottery community of "Jugtown" North Carolina.

Charles Lawrence advertised in 1903 for the sale of, "Souvenir Bean Pots from the Battle of Gettysburg." It seems like he was attempting to capitalize in the final years of his company's operation with the success he likely found with the Civil War bean pots. The company's constant transformations were likely the result of constant changes in the American marketplace that made it nearly impossible for a utilitarian potter to compete in the second half of the nineteenth-century - and thus, why Lawrence kept attempting to transform his Beverly pottery.

In the latter years of operation, the Beverly company acted as a wholesale dealer of stoneware, Rockingham ware, yellow ware and drain pipes. However, the most prolific years and wares were those that predate 1880 and actually produced in Beverly.

For me personally - the Greek Revival pottery examples were made by a number of New England potters, but the forms made in Beverly were the most fascinating. They represent the only examples made by a utilitarian redware potter - all others examples were the products of future art potters.

The Beverly wares are probably my favorite of all eighteenth or nineteenth-century New England pottery. I constantly bounce back and forth between Charles Lawrence and William Pecker (Merrimacport, Ma) and at the moment, my preference is Lawrence. The Beverly wares used a glaze style like no other New England potter that I have seen. The surviving examples demonstrate a utilitarian use with a sense of art at the same time. Very few early American utilitarian potters achieved this feat.

A quick tease ahead -- I presented at Dish Camp in New York over the weekend. I will give a good look into what this event is all about later this week. It's a wonderful academic experience that all involved with the world of early ceramics should experience.

Much more to come...