An Unusual Red Earthenware Form From American Potters: The Porch Vase

I have always had an appreciation for the spacious porches of early southern American homes. If these porches could only talk - the stories they would tell. I can envision how some of these porches may have been furnished; a set of wicker furniture, a swinging seat with a back-rest attached with chains to the ceiling - covered in pillows, maybe a few porch rockers with cushions, some lighting, and of course - potted plants that stand and hang. I can also see early forms of American utilitarian pottery filled with dirt; furthermore a wonderful arrangement of flowers and greens pouring over the sides in a flock of decorative colors. I have always found the idea of a large, wide-open porch extending across the front of a house as a wonderful meeting place that invites visitors into the atmosphere of a household. The porch can sometimes speak to what lays ahead in the home - and the southern porches I am referring to were often filled with what I envision as a warm culture and a welcome hospitality. It's like when walking into an antique shop for the first time - you can get a sense of what may be hidden inside by the quality or obscurity of what is out front. I guess I also admire southern porches because they were not usually a part of early architecture here in New England. It's an experience that many New England homeowners, who often act as caretakers of antique homes do not always understand. The idea of having that porch in the spring as nature renews itself, or at dusk for summer evening entertainment and even in the fall months is an open opportunity I would welcome.

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Crocker Farm, Inc. of Sparks, Maryland sold an interesting crock, which happened to have been called a porch vase at a July 2013 sale. The red earthenware jar was inscribed across the front, "AGNES MILLER, FROM, MAURICE, 1927." I assume the interior is either glazed or painted. It features a wonderful rounded rim, a rounded foot and an ovoid body. The exterior is not glazed. According to the auction house, "It was found in New York state and possibly made there. The vase also bears a resemblance to some early Brown Pottery products of North Carolina." I am not sure if the name, Maurice is indicative of a possible potter or merely a customer. The form of the jar suggests the potter was probably accomplished at their craft.

Possibly New York State-Made Red Earthenware Porch Vase

Signed Maurice, Who May have Been the Potter or the Client

Also Dated "1927"

Stands 16 1/4" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc. - Sparks, Md

Over the last six-months, I have found two crocks similar to the porch vase mentioned above. The first was found in Salem, Massachusetts and the second in Essex, Massachusetts. The distance between Salem and Essex is about ten miles. Each is a little larger than the porch vase, but the overall form is very similar. Both have a flat rim, a rounded foot and an ovoid body. The interior of both is also painted black - a paint color used by a few Essex County potters in the latter years of the nineteenth century. 

I initially thought the vases may have been made by Charles A. Lawrence's Pottery in Beverly, Massachusetts; however, Lawrence appears to have been a perfectionist with his products. Each form's proportions were in line with the next. His products did not vary - and these jars are more in line with potters who may not have been as skilled as the employees at Lawrence Pottery. I have seen similar nineteenth-century products made in South Danvers (Peabody), Massachusetts that vary in skill. This was sometimes the case at the Osborn Pottery, where dozens of potters were employed and not all owned the same skill - so sometimes the refinement and form of certain products varied. This may be the case with the two crocks found in Salem and Essex.

The incised lines around the crock pictured to the right are also a  characteristic used by Essex County potters, but it was usually used much earlier than these crocks appear to have been made. The weight of both jars also feels correct to what is expected of early American potters.

Probably Late 19th Century Red Earthenware Crocks

Each Stands Over 20" Tall

(Left) Crock Found in Salem, Ma

(Right) Crock Found in Essex, Ma

The black paint seen on both of these crocks match the black paints used in Beverly, but that's not to say another potter was not using a similar paint. There were potter's businesses throughout Essex County in the nineteenth-century. After 1850, the number of potters was in a downward decline since the market demand for utilitarian red earthenware was not as strong as it once had been. These products could even possibly be products made in the early twentieth-century, but my suspicions lead me to believe they were made earlier. I don't personally have an attribution, but I feel they were made in Essex County between 1860-1890 - and they may have served the same purpose as the porch vase Crocker Farm sold in 2013.

I thought it was worth mentioning this form because I had never heard of it before. It's a rather interesting style probably not made by a lot of potters.

Much More to Come...