Early Beverly, Massachusetts Earthenware Shards Found on the Bass River

All of the following red earthenware shards were recently collected on the Bass River in Beverly, Massachusetts after a recent storm. Beverly is located north of Boston next to Salem, Massachusetts. The potter, Charles A. Lawrence operated his own business after 1866 - only a few hundred yards from where all of these shards were found. I can definitively say some of these shards are from the Lawrence Pottery, while others I still have questions about. There were many early Beverly potters who came before Lawrence, but I am not aware of the location of any of their businesses. A few of these shards may be products from those eighteenth or early nineteenth century businesses - which may make sense considering the crock shards seem earlier than when the Lawrence Pottery operated.

These first few shards show a purple colored interior glaze. Similar shards were pictured in my recent article about Charles Lawrence, which ran in the January 2013 edition of the New England Antiques Journal. These shards, and the ones in the article were all found in a small dirt hill near the edge of the river. Erosion from past storms has caused a number of shards with this same glaze to become uncovered. I am not sure if there were a few pots with a purple glaze, which have been buried or if it is scattered debris from Charles Lawrence's business - or could it possibly be the location of a one of the earthenware businesses that came before Lawrence Pottery? The only other examples of red earthenware I have seen with purple glazes used by New England potters were found at the Bickford Pottery in Buxton, Maine. The rim on the shard is also comparable to some Maine utilitarian crocks. These shards could be from the 1860s when Lawrence Pottery was in business, but they could also date back to the early 1800s. Its tough to tell.

 Red Earthenware Shards Found in Beverly, Ma

Found a Few Hundred Yards from Where Lawrence Pottery was Located

Ca. 19th Century

Unusual Purple Interior Glaze

  Red Earthenware Shards Found in Beverly, Ma

Found a Few Hundred Yards from Where Lawrence Pottery was Located on the Bass River

Ca. 19th Century

Unusual Rim

 

 Red Earthenware Shard Found in Beverly, Ma

Found a Few Hundred Yards from Where Lawrence Pottery was Located

Ca. 19th Century

Unusual Purple Interior Glaze

This next shard also appears to have been from a crock. It was found on the muddy shore covered partially in sand and mud. I could only see part of it when I walked up to it. The rest had to be pulled out of the mud. I could tell it was broken from the way it was placed on the shore. The shard appears to have been uncovered during the storm. The brown interior glaze was a common color used by potters all over America. Brown was also a common color used on utilitarian wares by potters in Maine and Essex County. I have never seen a brown glaze attributed to the Lawrence Pottery before, but that doesn't mean it wasn't used. This shard seems to be a product made in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, but a characteristic that has always been tied to Lawrence Pottery is the idea of earthenware made by Charles Lawrence often appears earlier today than it really is.

 Red Earthenware Crock Shard Found in Beverly, Ma

Found a Few Hundred Yards from Where Lawrence Pottery was Located on the Bass River

Ca. Late 18th or 19th Century

  Red Earthenware Crock Shard Found in Beverly, Ma

Found a Few Hundred Yards from Where Lawrence Pottery was Located on the Bass River

Ca. Late 18th or 19th Century 

Common Brown Glaze Used by Many 19th Century American Potters

I feel strongly this shard was made at the Lawrence Pottery. It shows a leaf in relief. It was probably a terra-cotta flower pot made after 1870 - when the company began to focus on garden wares and Old World styles. I assume there was more to the relief decoration that only this leaf.

 Earthenware Flower Pot Shard Found in Beverly, Ma

Found a Few Hundred Yards from Where Lawrence Pottery was Located on the Bass River

Ca. 1870-1906

Appears a Leaf was Placed in Relief for Decoration

The gray colored interior seen on this shard is a characteristic of some earthenware made at Lawrence Pottery. It almost appears it was not fired long enough in the kiln. Lawrence Pottery was known for thickly potted products. This may be a result of earthenware which did not fire properly. In the case of this shard - it was produced in a thicker style that was different than many of the traditional ways used by nineteenth century Massachusetts potters; however I have not seen this effect in any of the thickly potted eighteenth century shards I have studied. It may have also been caused from the local clays, the kiln, manufacturing styles and the way the earthenware was heated. This is a characteristic I use when trying to determine what may have been made in Beverly and what was not. It's rather interesting to see!

 Red Earthenware Shard Found in Beverly, Ma

Found a Few Hundred Yards from Where Lawrence Pottery was Located on the Bass River

Ca. 1870-1890

Unusual Clay Color Seen in the Middle of the Shard

I am hopeful the location of the purple glazed shards may be where another Beverly business operated. I have no proof of it, but future research may show all the Beverly earthenware businesses from the seventeenth thru the nineteenth centuries operated in a similar area.There's also a chance it's a glaze used at the Lawrence Pottery that has not yet been identified.

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...

A Comparison of Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Flower Pots Found in Virginia and Massachusetts

I know some people have already seen the recently released photos of eighteenth or early-nineteenth century red earthenware flower pot sherds recovered at George Washington's mansion in Mount Vernon, Virginia; however, I am also posting these images on this website so a comparison can be made between incised decoration used by eighteenth and nineteenth century potters in the south, as well as some potters in New England.

I have not reviewed the archaeology reports from Mount Vernon; although, I do know the property had a greenhouse and this is where these sherds may have been recovered. A comparable style of decoration can be seen on two different styles of flower pots, which I have also posted from archaeological contexts in Massachusetts.

1) The first Massachusetts flower pot was recovered within a late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century archaeological context at the Narbonne House in Salem, Massachusetts, where a matching pot was also recovered in a similar context at the Navy Yard in Charlestown, Massachusetts. It is assumed that both pots were made at a potter's business located somewhere between Boston and Salem.

2) The second Massachusetts flower pot was recovered on property that was once owned by Christopher Gore in Waltham, Massachusetts, which is located a short distance to the west of Boston. Gore was a successful Massachusetts businessman and politician in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

A large collection of red earthenware flower pots were uncovered in the area where the greenhouse used to be located on Gore's property. It has not been confirmed, but the flower pots recovered at Gore Place may have originated at the Abraham Hews Pottery in Weston, Massachusetts.

Mount Vernon, Virginia

Late-18th or Early-19th Century Flower Pot Sherd Recovered at Mount Vernon, VA

Probably Made by a Local Potter
See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: George Washington's Mount Vernon - Mount Vernon, Va

ILate-18th or Early-19th Century Flower Pot Sherd Recovered at Mount Vernon, VA

Probably Made by a Local Potter
See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: George Washington's Mount Vernon - Mount Vernon, Va

Late-18th or Early-19th Century Flower Pot Sherd Recovered at Mount Vernon, VA

Probably Made by a Local Potter
See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: George Washington's Mount Vernon - Mount Vernon, Va

The Narbonne House in Salem, Massachusetts

Late-18th or Early-19th Century Flower Pot Sherd Recovered in Salem, MA

Probably Made by a Potter Located in Coastal MA
See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services, Narbonne House - Salem, MA

View of the Interior

Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services, Narbonne House - Salem, MA

View of the Base

Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services, Narbonne House - Salem, MA

(Christopher) Gore Place in Waltham, Massachusetts

Late-18th or Early-19th Century Flower Pot Sherd Recovered at Gore Place in Waltham, MA

Possibly Made at the Hews Pottery in Weston, MA
See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: University of Massachusetts at Boston

Another View of the Flower Pot Sherd

Photo Courtesy: University of Massachusetts at Boston

View of the Base

Photo Courtesy: University of Massachusetts at Boston

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...

19th or Early 20th Century Black & Green Painted Red Earthenware FlowerPot

**I have learned the pot in this report is likely a Native American product from the nineteenth or twentieth-century. It is still an interesting comparison I make below to the Massachusetts potter, William Walley.**

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I recently purchased this red earthenware flower pot from an antique dealer in Essex, Massachusetts. Essex is located just north of Boston. This particular dealer only sells what he finds from homes within a twenty-five mile distance of Essex. He essentially cleans out homes, but sometimes does house-calls, too - where a homeowner calls him to see if he has any interest in items they own. He only specializes in antiques - typically no later than the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Late 19th or Early 20th Century Red Earthenware Flower Pot

Possibly from a Massachusetts Potter

Purchased in Essex County and Found in a Home Nearby

Very Unusual Green and Black Paint Decoration
Decoration Does Not Appear Amateaur

This is what I can definitively say about the flower pot:

1) It was hand turned by a potter.

2) It is a red earthenware product.

3) It was hand-painted with green and black colors.
4) The paint decoration does not appear amateur.
5) Green and black were both colors used by potters during the Arts and Crafts Movement - especially in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

6) The rim has been rolled inward inside the jar.

7) The flower pot feels late 19th or early 20th century.

8) It was found in a home in Eastern Massachusetts by a long-time antiques dealers.
9) The base is flat not like some mass-produced molded flower pots.
10) Its form is similar to some hanging nineteenth century earthenware flower pots made by industrial Massachusetts potters.

11) And, the drainage hole is not centered on the bottom - which may indicate there were many pots lined up and all had holes placed at once.

Hand-Pushed Drainage Hole on the Bottom of the Flower Pot

Red Earthenware Seen on the Interior

I quickly turned to Lura Woodside Watkins book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares for any information about Massachusetts earthenware potters who painted flower pots. She says a business run by Abner S. Wight and Richard Linley made earthenware flowers after 1875 in West Sterling, Massachusetts. She says they painted molded flower pots, which a past-worker recalled his experience to her while she researched her book before 1950. I have no actual proof of how all these painted wares appeared, but I did see a group of molded shards from the West Sterling operation as part of Watkins collection at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The shards were completely different than how the flower pot of discussion was made. It seems flower pot production was an important product in West Sterling from the shards and actual examples seen in Watkins collection.

 Red Earthenware Molded Flower Pot Shard

Made in West Sterling, Ma

Ca. Late 19th Century

Lura Woodside Watkins Collection

Photo Courtesy: Smithsonian Institute, National Museum of Natural History - Washington, D.C.

  Red Earthenware Molded Flower Pot Shard that was Painted Red
An Attached Saucer is Seen

Made in West Sterling, Ma

Ca. Late 19th Century

Lura Woodside Watkins Collection

Photo Courtesy: Smithsonian Institute, National Museum of Natural History - Washington, D.C.

 Red Earthenware Molded Flower Pot Shard
Made in West Sterling, Ma
Ca. Late 19th Century

Lura Woodside Watkins Collection
Photo Courtesy: Smithsonian Institute, National Museum of Natural History - Washington, D.C.

Painted flower pots were also popular in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, but many of those examples were manufactured as a traditional pot with an attached saucer at the base (see Buxton, Maine report for examples). Flower pots were really made all over the country from Virginia to Vermont, back to Massachusetts and in Western New York. It was a common product that has always been in demand even up through today.

The way the drainage hole was placed on this pot seemed different to me. It was not totally centered like a machine-made product would have appeared. Many of the nineteenth century Eastern Massachusetts potters who made flower pots even gave that special attention to a near-perfect hole placement. It's different in this case.

It seems like there may have been a large amount of these pots lined up and a worker went along punching holes. That may be why it is not perfectly centered on the base.

I own a bunch of nineteenth century flower pots with a similar approach, which Watkins attributed a comparable form in her collection to West Sterling, Massachusetts; however, it is very difficult to actually attribute such a simple form like these pots to any specific maker without a very strong provenience. Take a look at the simple flower pots I am referring to below.

 Late 19th or Early 20th Century Red Earthenware Flower Pots
Similar Form Attributed by Lura Woodside Watkins to West Sterling, Ma
Watkins Pots Also Show a Similar Drainage Hole

Similar Method of Applied Drainage Holes to Each Pot

The potter, William J. Walley eventually took over an earthenware business in West Sterling at the end of the nineteenth century. Walley was involved with the New England utilitarian stoneware business in the 1870s. He was employed at the F.B. Norton stoneware company in Worcester, Massachusetts - producing forms commonly associated with the stoneware industry of the late 1800s. Around 1890, he purchased the old Wachuset Pottery (owned by Marcus Snow and Henry Coolidge) about fifteen miles form Worcester. Wachuset Pottery was known for making red earthenware and other products. The company was the largest earthenware business in Central Massachusetts from its start in 1820. Clay was reportedly harvested from the local Stillwater River. Walley probably used the same clay source. Walley's company made flower pots and art ware with fancy glazes until his death in 1917. He was born in England before leaving for America. He probably trained their, too.  Walley's influences and inspiration was large from all the industries he was involved with. He also worked in parts of Canada and Ohio before arriving in Massachusetts. Ohio was known for its art pottery - and Walley was probably largely influenced from his experience in that state.

I own an example of Walley's finer glazed floral products as part of my collection. Its really interesting to see the paint colors applied on the flower pot next to the glaze colors used on one of Walley's red earthenware vases. They are very similar! Both show black and green colors. 

(Left) Green and Black Painted Red Earthenware Flower Pot

(Right) William J. Walley Red Earthenware Vase - West Sterling, Ma - Ca. 1895-1917

Greens were also used at Grueby Pottery in South Boston, Massachusetts - at Thomas Nickerson's Merrimac Pottery Company in Newburyport Massachusetts - and at Hampshire Pottery in Keene, New Hampshire - but, none of these Arts & Crafts businesses made hand-turned flower pots in this manner. Most drew inspiration as either art pottery, Old World Grecian wares or perfected floral products. Walley remained an art potter who produced simple utilitarian floral products.

I would have to see more flower pots with similar paint colors to feel strongly about a possible Walley attribution for this flower pot, but it is very interesting to see an actual example of Walley's work next to the pot. They both show comparable green and black decoration and the manner in which the drainage holes were placed on some known West Sterling flower pots is also similar. The idea behind both forms may also be related.

The vase on the right was glazed - while the pot on the left was hand-painted. Both also appear to be from the correct period. Its certainly an interesting idea! Its possible I will stumble upon more information about this flower pot in the future. 

Much More to Come...

17th, 18th & 19th Century Earthenware Products of American and European Manufacturers

The Charlestown, Massachusetts archaeology collection keeps a rather interesting collection of very early clay or earthenware pipes. In some instances, the maker or even origin is not known. Clay pipes are seen in colonial contexts from Charleston, South Carolina up through northern parts of Maine. Its not that they are common, but in archaeological contexts, they are not uncommon either. Most earthenware pipes were imported if found within a seventeenth or eighteenth century context.

Kept as part of the Charlestown archaeology collection is a large concentration of red earthenware pipes all found within the same context. All were uncovered at a merchant's home inside the Maudlin Street district. Maudlin Street was apart of the central area of Charlestown. It was kind of like the streets that outlined downtown areas similar to Portland, Maine, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Newburyport, Massachusetts, or Wilmington, North Carolina. The pipes presumably date from the 1640s or 1650s due to where they were found in the ground. The merchant may have picked up the pipes while on travels across the sea. Its rather interesting to see such a large collection of pipes considering all appear to have been used. Similar red earthenware pipes were found on the Isle of Shoals in New Hampshire and attributed to the West Indies; however, similar pipes were also made in Virginia and in the areas that surrounded the Chesapeake Bay.

 Collection of Red Earthenware Pipes and Stems Found in Charlestown, Ma

Maudlin Street Archaeological District

Found at a Merchant's Home

Ca. 1640s & 1650s

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma

 Similar Pipes and Stems Found on the Isle of Shoals in New Hampshire

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma

 Appears to be a Variety of Possible Makers

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma

Probably a Few Hundred Red Earthenware Pipe Shards

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma

A large collection of earthenware pipes can been seen throughout the Charlestown collection. Most are from European manufacturers. A pair of objects that really spoke to me were earthenware marbles. Kaolin was a type of clay used mostly for decoration by colonial potters. It was applied to a variety of shapes and forms, which would typically cost more than a common black glaze. Slip decorated wares were usually sold to individuals who were tied to social classes that had the financial means to buy more decorative items, but people with less money sometimes purchased a few pieces of slip decoration only intended for special occasions. The amount of slip decoration in any given household sometimes depended on the individual and family's taste in fashion first - and then it was often based on their class level, whether it was lower, middle or upper class. There are other ideas that also discredit this notion, where slip decorated wares appeared in other areas because that is all that was available from the area's potters. There are lot of theories behind material culture and why what was where. Ideas may prove accurate in some areas - while in others it is discredited. There is a whole detailed discussion that can be had about the history of American slip decorated earthenware.

I recently wrote a report about slip decorated wares. I suggest reading it if you have the time.

Seventeenth and eighteenth century Colonial New England potters did not have a lot of access to kaolin clay from native beds - so it is assumed small amounts were shipped from Europe. Its very interesting to see earthenware marbles made from kaolin clay - considering the toy could have easily been made from the abundant local clays used for red earthenware. I assume they were not sold, but instead made for a child as possibly an end of the day piece with left over clay. I also assume these marbles may have traveled aboard a ship from England with passengers en route to the New World, but if they were made by a Charlestown potter - I wonder why that potter would use kaolin clay, which was not abundant in the Boston area. Kaolin clay probably came at a heavy cost before the American Revolution. Potters who used it were probably successful at their craft and their business.

These clay marbles were found inside a privy at the Three Cranes Tavern with an average date of 1750. The marbles may have been a little earlier or a little later, but the average time-frame of all the artifacts found was 1750.

Earthenware Marbles Found in Charlestown, Ma

City Square Archaeological District

Found in a Privy at the Three Cranes Tavern

Ca. 1750

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma

This next photo are a grouping of red earthenware marbles found in Newburyport, Massachusetts. All were either found at 441 Merrimac Street or on the Merrimac River. It is assumed all are tied to eighteenth and nineteenth century New England potters. The glazed marbles may have been made in Vermont.

Glazed and Unglazed Red Earthenware Marbles
Ca. 18th & 19th Centuries
Probably Mostly American-Made
All Found in Newburyport, Ma

The archaeology of the Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown revealed five privies or trash pits; four were from the eighteenth century (no later than 1775) and a fifth (the earliest) dates from the seventeenth century. As part of the artifacts found in the earliest privy, were yes, more earthenware pipes. These all date between 1675-1685. I think they are interesting to see due to their early production. They are likely all European-made. Each may have even been produced before the context they were found within.

 17th Century Earthenware Pipe

City Square Archaeological District

Found in a Privy at the Three Cranes Tavern

Ca. 1675-1685

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma

 17th Century Earthenware Pipe and Stems

City Square Archaeological District

Found in a Privy at the Three Cranes Tavern

Ca. 1675-1685

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma

For comparison - these next two examples are probably from the nineteenth century. The first is an earthenware pipe that shows a devil's head. It was probably made in continental Europe. It may be of French of Swiss origin. It was found on the shores of the Merrimac River in Newburyport, Massachusetts by my father, Richard Thomas in the 1970s. How a French or Swiss-made clay pipe made its way overseas into a community dominated by the China Trade in the nineteenth century is fascinating. The possibilities are endless. The clay stem has been broken off.

Earthenware Pipe with the Head of the Devil

Ca. 19th Century

Probably Made in Continental Europe

Found on the Merrimac River in Newburyport, Ma in the 1970s

The second pipe was recently found in a home in Maine. It was most-likely made by the potter, John Tabor of Wells, Maine in the nineteenth century. John Tabor is a well-documented potter, who worked in New Hampshire and Maine producing earthenware pipes for multiple clay types. This particular example would have probably have used a wooden stem while it was smoked. It is an example of Tabor's red earthenware products, which came in dozens of forms.

19th Century Red Earthenware Pipe

Probably Made by John Tabor in Wells, Maine

Found in a Maine Home

Clay pipes are sometimes an overlooked product made by American potters in the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, but they were a major product. In cases like John Tabor - the form became a major means of income. The study of clay pipes could be a great research subject. Its my belief there is a lot more to be learned about the American potters who made such a product. Its possible more potters made pipes than some may realize today. Its even possible some very well-known accomplished potters and industries made the product - and those products have never before been identified to that industry or potter.

There is Much More to Come…including: more about the Merrimac Pottery Company, the Battle of Bunker Hill, Beverly, Massachusetts Pottery and a comparison of flower pots found at George Washington's home in Mount Vernon, Virginia to those of eighteenth and nineteenth century Essex County Massachusetts.

Please Stay Tuned!

A Maine Redware Jug with Characteristics Shared by the Corliss Pottery in Woolwich, Maine

The idea of unknown forms from the redware potters of Maine has always been a concept I have stood firmly by. Regularly, I have considered potters often made multiple forms for any given utilitarian need. For example, the size of milk pans often varied within the walls of any specific potters business. I don't see why that could not stand true for other forms. It seems some potters are only regarded as having made one jug form despite being in business for decades. Why wouldn't they try to mix their product line up for the market's demand and the ever-changing fashion trends? A variety of forms would seem more fashionable and marketable. It seems logical they would have done so. What was in style in 1770 likely changed by 1870 and the same sometimes stood true for products made between 1820 and 1860. There was usually a small alteration or even a drastic change of appearance depending on how an object was viewed by society. This idea definitely stood true for household utilitarian products.

Below is a typical redware jug made at the Corliss Pottery in the Days Ferry neighborhood of Woolwich, Maine between 1820-1860. It features the typical ovoid shape, handle attachment, foot and flattened top usually seen from this business. The Corliss Pottery was one of the most successful businesses in Maine lasting for half-a-century. I cannot recall ever seeing a jug form that varies greatly attributed to this business, but I assume there had to have been a variation in style since the company saw so much success, with a huge yearly output for such an extended period. The Corliss Pottery was arguably the benchmark of all nineteenth century Maine businesses. It is debatable which Maine earthenware business was the most lucrative, but the operation in Woolwich can certainly hold its own to all the remaining redware businesses throughout the state of Maine.

 Typical Corliss Pottery Redware Jug - (Days Ferry) Woolwich, Me

Ca. 1820-1860

Typical Corliss Pottery Handle

Similar Handle Used on a Variety of Forms at Corliss Pottery

If you notice on the Corliss jug - it shows a faint colored cream drip and a body color that reminds me of the inside of a ripe papaya. Throughout the jug - thick black or dark brown dots can also be seen.

A Maine jug of a very different form recently emerged - and it shows the same glaze. The handle is attached at the lip, rather than the body. This jug has a pronounced rounded foot. Its body is not quite as ovoid as the typical Corliss jugs. Overlooking all of the differences, it is rather interesting to see the same type of glaze colors used - with the only difference being a much larger concentration of thick or dark brown spots all over the jug. The color of the clay is also very similar from jug-to-jug.

The newly found jug was covered in dried, thick black material, which may indicate its use for possibly maple syrup. Most of it has been cleaned off, but some still remains.

The handle on this jug is also very different than the other jug in they way it was manufactured. It was likely machine-made and then applied. It would only have made sense that the larger Maine companies would have used a machine to mold some handles as opposed to the smaller potters who were more primitive - and really didn't see a need to make their handles so perfect.

 Maine Redware Jug with Dripping Cream Glaze

May Be Related to the Jug Shown Above

Ca. 1820-1860

Wonderful Applied Handle with Contrasting Glaze Colors

Handle is Similar to Essex County Handles Where it Sways From Right to Left

It seems like these jugs may have some kind of relationship - whether it is by means of a direct relationship through the Corliss Pottery, a potter influenced by the Corliss Pottery or merely characteristics used by some of the potters in Maine. A cream colored glaze was used by the Safford Pottery in Monmouth, Maine, the Corliss Pottery of Woolwich, Maine, the Norcross Pottery in Farmington, Maine and the Dodge Pottery in Portland, Maine. It may have also been used by the Weber Pottery in Alfred, Maine. However much cream glaze was used in Maine, it remains very interesting seeing nearly two exact glaze styles on these jugs - and its just not one color, but rather three glaze characteristics. Its even more intriguing knowing one of the jugs was made at the Corliss Pottery in the Days Ferry neighborhood of Woolwich, Maine.

Could the non-attributed jug be a new form never before associated with the Corliss Pottery? Or at the least, not commonly associated with the industry in Woolwich, Maine? I think there's a chance! Its possible there is still a lot more to be learned about the Corliss Pottery's constant output considering the company manufactured tens-of-thousands of pieces of earthenware annually - and the company was in business for decades.

What do you think? I can certainly see a glaze relationship between the two jugs.

Much More to Come...

The Continued Study of a Highly Slip Decorated Earthenware Pitcher - Part 3

Earthenware Pitcher Report 1
Earthenware Pitcher Report 2

There has been some significant feedback towards the slip decorated earthenware pitcher, but no definitive answer, yet. I have checked with a group of professionals from South Carolina and the overall southern states - and they have felt the earthenware pitcher is not a product of the south. At this point, I think the likeliest possibilities are a Connecticut or English manufacturer. Unfortunately, I have not been able to determine where kaolin was used in either area. I have been able to find similar forms in both areas, but the products are either made of redware or stoneware. In both instances, there is no use of kaolin. Here is evidence from both region that may support the idea of the pitcher's origin of production.

19th Century Slip Decorated Earthenware Pitcher

Origin Still Unknown, Possibly American, Possibly European

Dated -1865- on Base

CONNECTICUT 19TH CENTURY POTTERS
Western Connecticut has a history of potteries producing refined ceramic products in the later years of the the nineteenth century. Porcelain, semi-porclain and art potter were all made after 1875 - and I ask, if these types of products were manufactured; why could a heavily slip decorated pitcher dated 1865 not have been apart of the output from Connecticut's post 1850 industries? The proper white clay was used later on - and its widespread use was seen in many states as the Arts and Crafts Movement progressed into the twentieth century.

According to Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares), production of semi porcelain was made in Connecticut during the latter years of the nineteenth century.

"A pottery in New Milford, Connecticut, which ran well into the 20th century, as organized as a stock company in 1886 and called the New Milford Pottery Company. Its first products were ordinary white ware and semiopaque China. The white ware was marked with a square including the lettering N.M.P.Co. or the initials L&S in a circle. The latter stood for Lang & Schafer, the New York agents for whom the China was made.

The name of the works changed to the Wannopee Pottery Company - a style that was still in use in 1904. During this period "Duchess" ware, characterized by mottled glazes, and porcelain were produced. A letter W in a sunburst was the mark of Duchess ware, while a sunburst with the word Porcelain, the letter W in the center, and W.P.Co. below appears on porcelain.

Wannopee Pottery Earthenware Candlesicks - New Milford, Ct

Ca. 1892-1900

"Duchess" Ware" 

Photo Courtesy: Cowan's Auctions - Cincinnati, Oh

Wannopee Pottery Earthenware Vase - New Milford, Ct

Ca. 1892-1900

"Duchess" Ware"

Photo Courtesy: 1stdibs.com

Wannopee Pottery Eartheneware Vase - New Milford, Ct

Ca. 1892-1900

"Duchess" Ware"

Photo Courtesy: 1stdibs.com

...The Park Lane Pottery (also in Connecticut) produced, about 1895, some semi-porcelain pitchers with a smear or a dull glaze slightly resembling Parian Ware. These were white except for a band of brown leaves in relief at the top and another of greenish yellow at the base."

Bennington, Vt Parian Ware, But Similar to the Product Discussed in Connecticut

19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Early American Craftsman, Dyer, 1915

In these instances - it is encouraging to see the use of refined white ceramics in Connecticut despite all the products emerging after 1875 during the Arts and Crafts Movement.

ENGLISH 19TH CENTURY POTTERS

I stumbled onto this redware pitcher by accident, but the form and handle placement are very similar to the pitcher of discussion. There may be a relationship, but the type of clay is completely different.

19th Century English Trail Slipped Pitcher

Similar Form to the Pitcher of Discussion

However, Clay Type is Very Different

Photo Courtesy: rhrising.blogspot.com

There are other forms of English earthenware that can be mentioned for the sake of this discussion, but the handle is really what places this pitcher into an overall wide-spread discussion.

 Handle of Earthenware Pitcher
This is the Characteristic Which Makes It Appear American

Mid-19th Century English Marbleized Agate Pitcher

Form is the Same Idea - But There Are Many Contrasting Characteristics

Photo Courtesy: Samuel Herrup Antiques - Sheffield, Ma

A similar use of colors is seen on this English redware inkwell, which Crocker Farm, Inc. sold in October of 2009.

Mid-19th Century English Redware Inkwell

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc - Sparks, Md

Overall, I think it is interesting to see the use of white clays in Connecticut during the second half of the nineteenth century. A similar clay source was used to manufacture the earthenware pitcher. Connecticut is also where the pitcher was found. The form is very similar to some Connecticut stoneware potters, who worked in the Hartford area, but the manner in which the slip was applied is similar to how some Connecticut redware potters applied their slip. It is also very similar to the incised decoration used by some Essex County Massachusetts potters in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. However, I certainly do see the argument for an English potter. I have just been unable to find any substantial evidence to persuade myself in either direction, yet.

Please Stay Tuned for More...

An Interesting Look at Partially Glazed Sherds Found at the Site of the Merrimac Pottery Company in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Circa 1897-1908

I have preciously written about the artifacts collected at the site of the Merrimac Pottery Company in Newburyport, Massachusetts, circa 1897-1908. However, I would also like to show some interesting sherds that are colorfully glazed, but only on the interior; whereas, the exterior was left unglazed. I suspect these sherds are the remains of utilitarian gardens ware, such as flower pots and garden urns.

The style that these sherds were manufactured remind me of utilitartian red earthenware crocks and pots with only an interior glaze, which were made by New England potters in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Note: For more information about this potter's business: check the right column on this website under the category "Merrimac Pottery Co. Archaeology."

Partially Glazed Sherds Recovered at Site of Merrimac Pottery Company

Merrimac Pottery Company Sherds, Newburyport, MA

Recovered at the Site of the Merrimac Pottery Company in Newburyport, Ma

Glazed Only on the Interior

Circa 1897-1908
See Article and Past Articles for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Olde Newbury Historical Society - Newburyport, MA

 Merrimac Pottery Company Sherds, Newburyport, MA
Recovered at the Site of the Merrimac Pottery Company in Newburyport, Ma

Glazed Only on the Interior

Circa 1897-1908
See Article and Past Articles for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Olde Newbury Historical Society - Newburyport, MA

 Merrimac Pottery Company Sherds, Newburyport, MA

Recovered at the Site of the Merrimac Pottery Company in Newburyport, Ma

Glazed Only on the Interior

Circa 1897-1908
See Article and Past Articles for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Olde Newbury Historical Society - Newburyport, MA

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...