The Impact of the World's Fair on American Earthenware Potters After 1850

"The world's fairs held from 1851 to 1939 were the venue for communicating and marketing histories, cultures, and ideas to an international audience. The undeniable impact of these events on artisans and manufacturers, and on collectors and museum directors and curators, is demonstrated in decorative arts, their tangible legacy. Among the objects at the fairs were those laden with historical associations, demonstrating the relevance of methods, motifs, and styles from the past on the decorative arts of the present, "that Modern Renaissance," as the critic Walter Smith wrote following the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia."

"The succession of nineteenth-century revival styles-Greek, Gothic, Rococo, Renaissance-also coincided with the advancement of modern machine production in the Western world. The effect was accessible, affordable, popular consumer goods that bore witness to invention as much as to layers and eras of historical design. While revivalism resulted in the pervasiveness of cheap mass-produced, middling-quality decorative arts in America and Europe during the late nineteenth-century, it also contributed to the highest level of craftsmanship and manufacturers, often aided by implementation of historical techniques. Commenting on the 1876 Philadelphia fair, Smith observed." (Busch, Jason T. & Futter, Catherine L, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fair: 1851-1939. Skira Rizzoli Publications, New York, 2012, page 51)

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This excerpt was taken from the book, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fair: 1851-1939 - it basically sums up the Industrial Revolution post-1850 American potter's industry to me. Most utilitarian potters had to adapt, and in order to do so - machine molded wares were mass-produced by many potters. This enabled many earthenware businesses to reach a large group of consumers. This audience was often much-broader than the utilitarian potters of decades past. However, there were some potters who were able to excel at a higher standard. Those potters were able to adapt to the market and economic demand without jeopardizing the integrity of their product lines. Essentially, the quality was not diminished and instead remained at a high-standard, which was sought after by many consumers from the best red earthenware American utilitarian potters. 

Post-1870 red earthenware potters, like those in the Shanandoah Valley in Virginia, throughout parts of Pennsylvania and parts of New England were able to keep with the market trends, by creating product lines that were unique to the American market. I wrote of the the post-1870 products Charles A. Lawrence made in Beverly, Massachusetts in the January 2014 edition of the New England Antiques Journal, but I have also shown additional products on this website that define this movement. All of the products I have attributed to Lawrence Pottery were either found in a local Beverly context, are known styles, are comparable to shards or were very similar to examples shown in museums with a very-strong attribution.

This small jar recently emerged in a household outside of a New England context; however characteristics seen from the painter's hand suggest Lawrence may have been the potter. If it is not a product of Lawrence Pottery - then it may have been a potter who had been influenced by the whole Grecian Revival Movement happening in New England after 1870. 

The decoration on the jar is exactly as Walter Smith described above at the World's Fair in Philadelphia in 1876. The whole notion of historical association is seen. The jar is dated for the centennial with 1776 written on the left-side of the jar and 1876 shown on the right. The front of the jar shows a hand-painted image of General George Washington from his shoulders up, with crossed cannons and a cannon ball below the portrait. I would like to believe the jar is symbolic of the battle that happened at Dorchester Heights in 1775, which not only marked the first victory by the American patriots in the American Revolution - but also welcomed General Washington to the march for America's independence by-way of his first victory.

That's my interpretation, but its more likely General Washington is an image from the Independence gained in 1776. It's possible this jar was made outside of New England, but the decoration seems too similar to the products made in Massachusetts in the 1870s. It is also possible this jar was made in Chelsea, Massachusetts by Hugh Robertson, who reportedly was largely influenced by the 1876 world's fair. The influences taken from Robertson's experience were later applied to products made at the Chelsea Keramic Arts Works, and later Dedham Pottery in Dedham, Massachusetts in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

  American Red Earthenware Jar, Possibly a Vase

Probably Made in New England, Possibly by a Massachusetts Potter

Front Shows a Portrait of General George Washington

 Left Side is Dated, 1776

Right Side is Dated, 1876

I imagine there were possibly a large group of these jars made, by what I believe to be a New England potter who probably setup or attended the world's fair in Philadelphia in 1876. Characteristics suggest it may have been made at Lawrence Pottery in Beverly or by Hugh Robertson in Chelsea. The real difference between the black painted wares and Grecian products made at these two companies was the clay. Both clays had a distinct feeling. Other characteristics include the paint color, clay color, interior glaze color and the decorative style used by the artist. There are other possible potters for this jar, but it had to have been a potter who was successful enough to have possibly attended the world's fair. In the years that followed the 1876 world's fair, another Massachusetts potter, Moses Paige also exhibited in 1893 (Here is a link to a teapot he made for the fair). Moses owned Paige Pottery in Peabody, Massachusetts - which happened to have been only a matter of miles from Lawrence Pottery in Beverly and Nickerson in Chelsea.  

Before Charles A. Lawrence and Moses Paige owned their own businesses, each trained together at another potter's business in Peabody. Could there be a coincidence here with the world's fair and the jar of this report? I think it's a good question! And just-in-case anyone is thinking it - I do believe the 1876 date to be accurate for when the jar was made.

It's my belief the jar was made by Hugh Robertson in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The largest characteristic   for this attribution is the type of clay, which feels exactly like attributed Grecian products made in the 1870s in Chelsea that are in the collection of Historic New England. Those products feel more like a terra-cotta product rather than red earthenware. That's how this jar feels.

There's also a chance the jar was made in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Hews Pottery, but I have never seen that company use this type of paint before. Hews Pottery was also involved with the world's fairs.

I have previously suggested many times the impact the Industrial Revolution had on the American utilitarian potter's industry, but the world's fair also had an impact. The fair introduced potters to many industries and cultures, which some American potters brought home new ideas for their own products. This is my belief what happened to Charles Lawrence in Beverly in the 1870s, when his product lines really expanded into untraditional forms. This same influence was seen in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Portland, Maine, Concord, New Hampshire and many more potters throughout the eastern seaboard.

Much More to Come...