18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Bowls Found in ColonialMassachusetts

I have previously written a report about this eighteenth-century utilitarian subject - and I am going to continue with its discussion today. I only know of a small number of these slip-decorated red earthenware bowls that exist beyond an archaeological context. I have never been able to determine a true attribution; although there are a number of shards that have been discovered in eighteenth-century archaeological contexts throughout coastal Massachusetts.

The first was found in a circa 1770 privy at the Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown, Masssachusetts. This particular bowl did witness the Battle of Bunker Hill and America's early fight for Independence. The Three Cranes Tavern was originally built as a home for  John Winthrop in the seventeenth-century. It was later adopted as a tavern. The bowl was likely made before the 1770 context it was found within and its use is likely directly related to the tavern.

18th Century Red Earthenware Slip-Decorated Bowl Found in Charlestown, Massachusetts

Uncovered in a Privy at the Three Cranes Tavern

The Privy was Ca. 1770 - The Bowl Likely Dates Earlier

Photo Courtesy: Massachusetts Historical Commission - Boston, Ma

Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) discovered a small concentration of shards that are likely related to the bowl found in Charlestown at the site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company (1766-1799) in Newburyport, Massachusettts. Bayley's home and potter's business was destroyed for a Route 1 underpass in the 1930s. Watkins arrived as demolition crews were well underway and she was granted permission to salvage as much material as she wished. All of these artifacts - and a large number of additional New England shards are now kept at the National Museum of American History (Smithsonian) in Washington, D.C.

Shards Uncovered by Lura Woodside Watkins in Newburyport, Ma

Found at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Site

Ca. 1760s-1770s

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, DC

Watkins also donated her entire red earthenware collection to the Smithsonian and as part of that collection, was a related intact eighteenth-century bowl that she discovered in Essex County Massachusetts sometime before 1950.

Red Earthenware Slip-Decorated Bowl Found By Lura Woodside Watkins in Essex County, Ma

Presumably Made Before 1775

Measures 13 Inches Across

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, DC

I have personally owned three of these bowls. All were found in the greater-Portsmouth, New Hampshire area. All are believed to be related. They all appear very similar to the shards kept at the Smithsonian and the Massachusetts Historical Commission. Similar shards have even been found in a pre-1775 context at Paul Revere's house in Boston - when Revere actually resided in the home.

I have never been able to accurately pinpoint a legitimate maker, but these products are similar to some slip decorated products made in eighteenth-and-early-nineteenth-century Philadelphia. I do not believe there is any relationship - just a coincidence that is worth sharing.

Red Earthenware Slip-Decorated Shards Probably Made in Philadelphia, Pa

Probably Late 18th and Very Early 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services Philadelphia Archaeology Department - Philadelphia, Pa

The most recent bowl I found may be earlier than the bowls kept at the Massachusetts Historical Commission and the the Smithsonian. It has a very-old stapled repair, which I believe to be period for the bowl. It just has that feel that suggests it is early - possibly mid-eighteenth-century. It was found in an early home in Portsmouth, New Hampshire last fall - and it is my favorite of all  the bowls I have seen. I think the fact that it is a few inches smaller in diameter gives it a great form. All the other bowls I have seen are roughly 13-15 inches in diameter. This bowl is only 11 inches in diameter.

18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Bowl

Found in Portsmouth, NH

Ca. 1740-1775

Measures 11" in Diameter

These bowls have always fascinated me. I think the idea that related bowls and shards have been found in such important archaeological contexts in New England has piqued my interest over the years. I remember first seeing the bowl Watkins found in Essex County pictured in her book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares - and then the shards discovered in Newburyport made it even more fascinating. My interest has only continued to grow as I learned of a similar bowl found in colonial Charlestown and related shards in important areas of Boston. I hope more information about these bowls will come forward in the future.

Much More to Come...