Western New York Redware - Lorenzo Johnson of 19th Century Newstead, New York

The rich clay supplies located in western upstate New York were likely responsible for the area's earthenware industry that emerged in the nineteenth century. The towns of West Bloomfield, Lima, Stafford, Avon, Rochester, Perinton and Newstead were the most prominent. The industry's output was probably almost entirely intended for local needs. These potters probably sold to local merchants and peddled their wares throughout the countryside. Many of these potters emerged in a time when stoneware had begun to dominate the utilitarian potter's industry across the country. There was likely a Canadian influence with some of the potters in the way they manufactured and decorated their wares in western upstate New York.  The names Wilcox, Gleason, Rochester, Seymour, Lewis and Johnson are arguably some of the most recognizable today and there are probably many additional potters from this area who are not known today. Apprentices and traveling potters likely arrived and left over the years.

Buffalo, New York was first established in 1789 and it was incorporated into a city in 1832. In 1840, more than 18,000 people lived in Buffalo and more than a hundred-thousand in the nearby counties. Nearby Lake Ontario and Lake Erie probably provided a means of transportation to other maritime communities on the Great Lakes. These same lakes also provided a wonderful source of proper clay to produce redware. It seems that most of the potters who worked in this part of New York emerged around the time Buffalo became a city. It probably indicates the area's growing population of the period.

Stoneware was the dominant form of pottery produced in all of New York in the nineteenth century. It was extremely popular in the Hudson River Valley, eastern upstate New York, Long Island and the greater New York City area. Lorenzo Johnson, a potter who worked in Newstead, New York produced a line of redware that resembled stoneware in form and decoration. Newstead is located about 25 miles east of Buffalo and directly in between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. It is my understanding that Johnson created this line to compete and supply the demand of stoneware that New Yorkers required of the period. The New York redware industry was small when compared to its enormously successful stoneware industry.

Crocker Farm, Inc of Sparks Maryland sold what many may say is the most important example of Johnson's imitation stoneware work in 2011. It's realized price was strong. The jug was previously pictured in a booklet put out by The Rochester Museum and Science Center in 1974. It was later pictured on page 75 of William Ketchum, Jr.'s book, "American Redware." Similar examples of Johnson's work are seen on page 9 and again on page 75 of the same book. This particular example was stamped with Johnson's name. Similar shards have been found at the Johnson Pottery site that show he produced a number of forms and sizes with his imitation line of stoneware.

Lorenzo Johnson Earthenware Jug - Newstead, NY

Circa 1850-1860

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc - Sparks, Md

I think there is much confusion with Johnson's work today. His work can sometimes be confused for redware made in Vermont and Maine and often, examples made in Maine and Vermont are mistaken for the potters of upstate western New York. The potters of this area were very accomplished through skill, form and glaze. They produced a strong line of refined ceramics that can be compared to the more accomplished American industries of the nineteenth century.

Johnson may have been the only American potter to attempt such a line of imitation stoneware - he was at the very-least, probably the most successful. He likely only had suitable clay to manufacture redware available at his disposal. Proper clay for stoneware assumably had to be imported - which probably added a heavy business cost. Like most early potters, Johnson worked with what he had available to him. In order to make his product look like stoneware, Johnson painted it with white slip and often applied blue cobalt decoration. He kept up with the stoneware market trends, too - forms would change or alter as the stoneware industry demanded.

Stoneware was fired at a much higher temperature than was redware. The end product was much stronger and durable when compared to redware. Chinese potters are known to have applied a similar technique to their stoneware products despite their end products showing a red clay. They seem to have mastered what Johnson was attempting; however, I feel Johnson did master his technique despite not seeing the huge success he probably desired. Johnson kept his own business for more than thirty years so it is not entirely known how many of these imitation stoneware forms he made, but it can be assumed there was a constant demand due to his longstanding employment in the industry. He was one of the leaders in the upstate western New York earthenware movement.

I have handled some of Johnson's imitation stoneware and it feels like it was fired like stoneware. Many potters would then say that the color of the clay has nothing to do with it being a redware or stoneware product - they would say its all about how it was fired. I still have to do more research into whether all of Johnson's imitation products appeared this way or only some. I do know he did produce redware products, too. Redware was probably his most successful business.

I recently purchased the following jar which shows all of the characteristics of Johnson's work that I have been mentioning. I was told by the dealer it was purchased at an estate sale in western Pennsylvania. It stands nearly fifteen inches tall. The halos in the glaze were caused from iron in the clay that reacted with the glaze and heat of the kiln. You do not typically see this with traditional stoneware products. The third photo shows the glazed interior which really appears more like a redware product than any type of popular nineteenth century American stoneware.

This jar is equally decorated with floral motifs on both sides. Each handle shows cobalt blue line decoration across the top of it. It is extremely durable.

 Likely Lorenzo Johnson Earthenware Jar - Newstead, NY

Probably Mid 19th Century

Found in Pennsylvania

 Great Color!

Notice the Iron Rich Clay Used for for this Jar
Interior Really Appears Like a Redware Product
Interior Glaze Seems Like Glazes Seen in parts of Coastal Mass, NH and Maine

Lorenzo Johnson is only a name in the tremendous industry that upstate western New York once saw. The winters were cold and full of snow. The summers were probably the most productive. These potters were very similar to the potters of the Saco River  Region in Maine and those who worked in the greater Middlebury, Vermont area. They served to mainly meet the local market's needs. The industry probably did not compete against each other. It appears it may have been tightly interwoven from business to business - and rather than those businesses seeing it as a competition -  a great deal of support was shown to enable the area's success. Upstate western New York's potters were accomplished, daring and experimental. Johnson is only one story of the many that need to be told from this area. The overall end products of upstate western New York were really unique when compared to all other regions and industries of the nineteenth century American utilitarian pottery movement.

Much More to Come...