The area really was a hotspot for all kinds of international and domestic imports. Pictured below are probably examples of domestic red earthenware from the appropriate period. One of the shards was involved with a fire. The black soot was not caused in the potter's kiln. It may have come from a person or persons attempting to burn the trash deposited at Faneuil Hall or it may be from an actual fire. It could also have been the result of cooking over an open fire in the household. The cause is really not known. A similar form was made all over New England after the American Revolution - and its production continued by potters working in many communities in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
I will not get into the potential maker of any of these shards at this time.
18th Red Earthenware Shards
Probably From a Milk Pan
Found at Faneuil Hall Archaeological District
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
18th Century Red Earthenware Crock
Probably Used for Storage
Found at Faneuil Hall Archaeological District
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
Crock Was Exposed to a Fire at One Time
Found at Faneuil Hall Archaeological District
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
Earthenware products from the Caribbean are found all over the Faneuil Hall collection. If you look at the center of the clay in these shards - it shows a similar clay color like the shards I recently wrote about attributed to the Lawrence Pottery in Beverly, Massachusetts. I cannot recall ever really seeing this effect from another American potter's products. It may have something to do with the pots thickness and how it reacted with the heat of the kiln. Here is a link to that recent report.
These shards may have held a product imported from the southern colonies or another area intended for the Boston market. More information would need to be gathered to determine what may have been happening.
18th Century Caribbean Earthenware
May Have Contained a Product Imported Into Boston
Found at Faneuil Hall Archaeological District
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
Gray Colored Clay is Similar to the Color of Some Shards at the Lawrence Pottery in Beverly, Ma
Found at Faneuil Hall Archaeological District
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
There are additional shards from the Faneuil Hall collection that can be compared to the Lawrence Pottery in Beverly. Take a look at this artifact and the way a finger made the decoration on the unglazed exterior. That decoration is very similar to the candlestick that was featured in my recent report about Charles Lawrence's business in the January 2013 edition of the New England Antiques Journal. Here is a link to that report.
I do not totally understand the form this shard was apart of, but I will guess and say it is from a flower pot. The decoration and rim appear that way to me. I have no idea if this is an American or an imported product. I have never seen anything like it before with the exception of the Beverly-made candlestick produced more than a hundred years later.
18th Century Earthenware Shard - Possibly from a Flower Pot
Similar Decoration to a Candlestick Made at the Lawrence Pottery in Beverly, Ma
Found at Faneuil Hall Archaeological District
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
Glazed Interior Shows a Common Orange/Brown Color
Found at Faneuil Hall Archaeological District
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
The real focus of this report is to discuss early black earthenware made in Buckley, England - that appears in the Faneuil Hall collection. All of these examples date before 1742. These shards do appear like American products, but the clay color is darker than most domestic earthenware. These products are also more durable than American red earthenware. The Buckley shards appear to have been fired at higher temperatures than traditional red earthenware, which makes a product comparable to stoneware. It's a tougher product that can withstand more abuse.
Buckley, England Black Glazed Earthenware
Ca. 1720-1740
Found at Faneuil Hall Archaeological District
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
Buckley, England Black Glazed Earthenware
Ca. 1720-1740
Found at Faneuil Hall Archaeological District
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
Buckley, England Black Glazed Earthenware
Ca. 1720-1740
Found at Faneuil Hall Archaeological District
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
Buckley, England Black Glazed Earthenware
Ca. 1720-1740
Found at Faneuil Hall Archaeological District
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
According to The Art of the English Potter by L.M. Solon, "At the present time, indeed, at Buckley, a few miles from Chester, they have not discontinued the practice of the oldest style, and are turning out slip pieces which, with a little scratching and chipping, might be mistaken for the work of two hundred years ago. Tygs, of course, they are no longer, but the identical shapes now due duty of flower pots." (The Art of the English Pottery, Solon, 1886)
A tyg is an English mug that contains multiple handles. An actual eighteenth century Buckley-made tyg can be seen as part of the Boston Archaeology Collection. It probably dates from the early eighteenth century. While this example does not show a black glaze - it is a good example of earthenware products made in Buckley.
18th Century Buckley, England Earthenware Tyg
Probably Ca. 1700-1750
Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma
Eighteenth century Buckley black glazes and forms appear to have been copied by American potters throughout the colonies. I personally know of forms that may indicate imitation made in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Essex County Massachusetts and Charlestown, Massachusetts - but it's my thought these imitations continued throughout the colonies that may have included Long Island (NY) and Philadelphia potters.
Similar glaze techniques were also used in South Wales, Londsdale and Yorkshire - that eventually influenced American red earthenware potters. Examples of the styles I am referring to can be seen in the book, County Pottery: Traditional Earthenware of Britain.
I have written a second report about products that may have been influence by Buckley, England potters - or at the least, English earthenware products. It's available as the second February 1st report on this website - or there is a link in the previous sentence.
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