Danversport Shards Report 2
Danversport Shards Report 3
Further research at the Boston Archaeology Department in West Roxbury, Massachusetts has revealed a similar manufacturing style seen in redware shards - when compared to the redware plate remains found in Danversport, Massachusetts. The remains in Danversport appear like an eighteenth century local manufacturer.
I recently compared those shards to ones excavated by the Boston Archaeology Department about thirty years ago. The artifact kept in West Roxbury has an archaeological context between 1725 and 1740. It was likely manufactured before either of these dates. The South Danvers, Massachusetts potter, James Kettle manufactured earthenware from the late seventeenth into the early eighteenth centuries. Both the remains seen at the Boston Archaeology Department and the shards found in Danversport appear similar. However, the application of slip decoration appears much different. The similarities are possible, but the shards are definitely not from the same potter.
Redware Shard Kept at the Boston Archaeology Department
Interior of Bowl
Likely from a Local Domestic Potter
1725-1740 Archaeological Context
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Department - West Roxbury, Ma
Redware Shard Kept at the Boston Archaeology Department
Exterior of Bowl
Likely from a Local Domestic Potter
1725-1740 Archaeological Context
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Department - West Roxbury, Ma
Redware Shard Fond in Danversport, Ma
Exterior of Plate
Probably an 18th Century Essex County Potter
Redware Shard Fond in Danversport, Ma
Interior of Plate
Probably an 18th Century Essex County Potter
Redware Shard Fond in Danversport, Ma
Exterior of Plate
Probably an 18th Century Essex County Potter
Redware Shard Fond in Danversport, Ma
Interior of Plate
Probably an 18th Century Essex County Potter
I have a sense the plate remains seen in Danversport may be remains from James Kettle's Pottery about a mile upriver. I have no real way to prove it. There are no potters known to have worked in slip decoration after Kettle's Pottery in Essex County. The absence of slip has been purportedly not found up through the nineteenth century, but the day-to-day operations of any potter can be unpredictable. The use of slip after Kettle was certainly not common practice with any potter's output in Essex County, but it may have been uncommonly applied.
I personally believe there were other potters who used slip in Essex County in the eighteenth century; however, there is just no strong proof to make a case for it.
I personally believe there were other potters who used slip in Essex County in the eighteenth century; however, there is just no strong proof to make a case for it.
The remains appear similar to those excavated at the actual James Kettle Pottery site by Harvard Professor Lura Woodside Watkins more than fifty years ago. Beyond that, the use of slip decoration does not seem familiar to any other potters working in New England before 1790. After 1790, the style can be seen with potters employed in southern New England - especially in Connecticut.
The redware shards in Danversport were found near shards of what appear to be eighteenth century chamber pots from possibly a local potter, too.
Likely an 18th Century Redware Chamber Pot Shard
Exterior of Chamber Pot
Typically a Glaze Style that is Most-Commonly Seen in Essex County
Found in Danversport, Ma
Likely an 18th Century Redware Chamber Pot Shard
Interior of Chamber Pot
Typically a Glaze Style that is Most-Commonly Seen in Essex County
Found in Danversport, Ma
Likely an 18th Century Redware Chamber Pot Shard
Exterior of Chamber Pot
Black Glazes were Commonly Use by Potters Across America in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries
Found in Danversport, Ma
Likely an 18th Century Redware Chamber Pot Shard
Interior of Chamber Pot
Black Glazes were Commonly Use by Potters Across America in the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries
Found in Danversport, Ma
Chamber pots were most-popular with seventeenth and eighteenth century potters. The form began to phase out with potters of the nineteenth century. It is assumed each of these chamber pots may possibly be from a local potter. The orangish glaze is especially a style seen at the Osborn Family pottery of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in South Danvers. The black glaze is common to many potters all over colonial America.
I feel a case can be made for an attribution of the slip decorated shards to James Kettle's pottery, but I am sure there is an argument against it, too. The chamber pots are certainly later in the eighteenth century than Kettle's work. Its very interesting to see such remains in abundance on the shores of areas like the greater Salem, Massachusetts area - where such a rich history, dates all the way back to the first half of the seventeenth century.
Much more to come...
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