A Monumental Redware Pitcher of Essex County Massachusetts: Part 2

Report 1

In continuation of the discussion towards the monumental eighteenth century redware jar of recent analysis; there are many similarities that link it to the industry which took place in Essex County Massachusetts between 1750 and the start of the American Revolution. The lip on the jar is almost unmistakable for the styles applied to the tops of pitchers by a number of businesses that worked in the area between 1790-1820 - as seen in the photo below.  This style has also supposedly been attributed to southeastern Massachusetts (1790-1820), but it was most prominent in the South Danvers area (today known as Peabody, Massachusetts).

Four separate Essex County businesses are represented below. Each shares similarities through form, glaze and incised decoration. All have a very similar lip and pouring spout, but each possesses a unique handle when compared to the rest. The incised decoration seen on three of the pitchers has been applied in very similar areas, which happen to be on the upper part of the body - and equally centered towards the middle of the handle.

Essex County Massachusetts Redware Pitchers

Circa 1770-1820

All Share A Similar Neck or Lip and Pouring Spout

All Four Handles Are Different


Incised Lines Seen on 18th Century Redware Pitcher
Similar Lines Seen on Three of the Pitchers

I personally do not feel any of these four pitchers shown above were made by the same potter. I believe they are the product of four separate potters.

The yellow slip decorated monumental pitcher measures 13 and a half inches tall. Its style matches exactly to shards seen at the Narbonne House in Salem, Massachusetts. The archaeological report describe those shards as, "red-blown glaze interior and  exterior with splattered slip decoration." The shards discussed in the report were found in a pre-Revolution context and were the remains of a chamber pot. Similar chamber pot remains seen in the same context were comparable to forms made in Charlestown, Massachusetts and at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Massachusetts. The splash decorated redware chamber pot shard matches the monumental redware pitcher exactly. It is very interesting to see these shards in Salem. This is not a known style by the potters who worked to the north and south of the coastal city - where a large collection of shards have been studied.

Photo of Chamber Pot Remains from the Narbonne House in Salem, Ma

Chamber Pot's Technique to the Left is Exact to the Technique Seen on the Pitcher

(Not to be Reused Without Permission from NPS and EarlyAmericanCeramics.com)

It should also be noted the black manganese decoration on the smaller pitchers seen to the left and in front of the monumental pitcher have a similar thick manganese decoration like the spattered yellow slip decoration. Neither of these styles are commonly seen anywhere in Massachusetts, but it is very interesting to see both applied by potters who were possibly relatively close to each other in Essex County. Very few examples with this type of decoration are thought to have survived today.

Thickly Applied Manganese Decoration

Similar Technique to the Thickly Applied Slip Decoration

Lura Woodside Watkins makes mention of more than 20 potters who were employed in South Danvers, Salem and Lynnfield, Massachusetts - who were born before 1750. A handful more were born between 1750-1755, which would place them at an age where an apprenticeship was possible. The Osborn family in South Danvers was responsible for six of the twenty potters. The Southwick, Stone, Whittemore and Wilson names were all prominent in South Danvers before 1750. It's possible the pitcher was made by any of these families which very little is known of their work today.

A Salem potter could have been responsible, too - considering the Symonds family was very active in the area before 1775. A Beverly potter is also possible. It is my belief that the jar may have been made in Salem. My idea for a possible Salem attribution comes from the idea that the Salem potters were just to the west of the Narbonne House. South Danvers was even further west. It would make sense that more of Salem's potters wares made it into Salem rather than those made in nearby communities who did not ship by way of the Atlantic Ocean. This all changed after the American Revolution. The Charlestown and Newburyport examples were probably unloaded on Salem's docks, which the Narbonne House was directly in front of. The jar is also living proof that slip decoration was used in Essex County in the eighteenth century before its popularity faded in the nineteenth century, like it did in most New England states. There have been conflicting reports over the past hundred years as to whether slip decoration was applied in Essex County.

There will be much more to come including a harvest jug I would like to revisit since I have recently learned the use of kaolin clay was regularly used by John Tabor in nineteenth century South Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. It was also used by other potters in New Hampshire and Maine in the nineteenth century. There were also potters in Canada who imitated known English, German and French forms. These styles sometimes trickled down with the potters of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and upstate New York. The harvest jug imitates a French style, but there are similar forms known to imitate Canadian and continental European potters, which ended up as the output of other northerly American potters.

19th Century Redware Pitcher or Field Jug

Country of Origin: Presently Not Known

Height: 15 Inches

Base: 7 Inches Diameter

Opening at Top: 5 Inches in Diameter

Handle: 5 Inches Wide

Support Handle: 2.5 Inches Wide
Spout: 2.5 Inches Long

Weight: 7.2 Pounds

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