A Special Red Earthenware Shard Found in Charlestown, Massachusetts with an Unusual 18th Century Decoration - and a Strong Archaeological Context

Boston City Archaeologist, Joe Bagly brought this so-called "crimp" decorated red earthenware shard to my attention earlier this week - while I was attending the antique shows in Brimfield, Massachusetts. The shard is unglazed on the exterior with a brownish glaze on the interior. The shard fascinates me because it appears it was a colonial potter's attempt to add fancy-like decoration to a form that was not typically adorned with anything attractive beyond the bare necessities. It was possibly the potter's way of attempting to make their product stand out from the lesser decorated competition.

 18th Century Red Earthenware Shard Found in Charlestown, Ma

Discovered at the Three Cranes Tavern

Unglazed on the Exterior with Applied Crimp Decoration

Ca. 1775-1780

Borders Predating and Postdating the Battle at Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775

Interior Glaze with a Brownish Color

Close-Up of the Crimp Decoration

The shard was originally discovered by archaeologists in the 1980s at the site of the Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown, Massachusetts - when the area was excavated as part of the Big Dig Project's archaeology.

The Three Cranes Tavern was originally built for Governor  John Winthrop in the seventeenth-century before it was shortly later converted into Long's Ordinary (tavern) - and later, the Three Cranes Tavern around the turn of the eighteenth-century.

What's interesting about this particular context is that the most significant artifacts uncovered during this highly important project were found in a pre-June 17, 1775 archaeological context - which is when British soldiers leveled the town of Charlestown, Massachusestts at the Battle of Bunker Hill at the start of the American Revolution. This shard postdates all of that material; however not by much.

The shard was found as part of the fill that was used to cover the empty foundation that remained at the tavern after fires had destroyed the rest of the building. There are two possibilities how this happened; 1) (immediately) It's conceivable the foundation was filled in immediately following the battle; 2) (prolonged) Although it may have taken some time for the people to return and rebuild and cover the foundation. It didn't likely occur on June 18, 1775. I think a fair date for the debris used to cover in the foundation could have been as broad as 1775 to 1780.

All of the ceramic shards that were found in the hole with the crimp decorated shard were period - that included tin glaze earthenware, Chinese porcelain, salt-glaze stoneware and domestic red earthenware. I have opened every single box that contains ceramics in the Charlestown Archaeology Collection and this is the only shard I have seen with this type of applied crimped decoration. It's possible some smaller fragments are in the boxes, but I have not seen anything like this on the larger pieces. It's fascinating, but also puzzling at the same time because I have not seen anymore shards like it; so where did it come from and why was it in Charlestown?

 18th Century Slip Decorated Shards that Were Found in Same Hole as the Crimp Decorated Shard

 17th or 18th Century Tin Glazed Earthenware Found in Same Hole as the Crimp Decorated Shard

 More Tin Glazed Earthenware  Found in Same Hole as the Crimp Decorated Shard

  18th Century European Stoneware Shards  Found in Same Hole as the Crimp Decorated Shard

 18th Century Locally-Made Red Earthenware Found in Same Hole as the Crimp Decorated Shard

 Likely 18th Century Chinese Porcelain Found in Same Hole as the Crimp Decorated Shard

  18th Century Locally-Made  Red Earthenware Found in Same Hole as the Crimp Decorated Shard

 18th Century Locally-Made Red Earthenware Found in Same Hole as the Crimp Decorated Shard

I don't believe this was a common decoration used in coastal Massachusetts in the eighteenth-century - I have not seen anything like it made in the industries south or north of Boston. It was also not a decoration that I have seen used in any of the eighteenth-century archaeology I have reviewed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire - so it's a concept that basically stumps me for now.

A few questions come to mind;

1) Could the shard have been made in Charlestown despite so little archaeological evidence that supports the idea of a potter (or potters) applying this type of decoration as a regular part of their output?

2) Could this have been a special piece or a special request that included this type of decoration by a customer or client?

3) Are we only seeing a small part of the actual decoration that the crock was adorned with? Was there a lot more to it?

4) Or, could this crock have been imported or brought into Charlestown by its owner from elsehwere in New England - or from another potter in New England or elsewhere on the American seaboard?

Off the top of my head, I know similar decorations were used in places like Virginia, Pennysylvania, Maryland, Illinios and Maine (among other places) in the nineteenth-century - when floral wares became a major trend in the potter's industry while other needs/styles diminished; however, this shard likely predates the American Revulution making it much earlier. It could outdate those nineteenth-century products by upwards of a hundred-or-more years. I also cannot recall having ever seen any English, German, etc. products with a similar crimping that may have given the potter(s) inspiration; although this type of decoration does date back to very-early German stoneware.

It's possible the potter(s) developed this idea on their own, but from what  I have seen- there was less cleverness into new forms in Charlestown; rather their inspiration, manipulation and imitation was mostly developed from the English, Continental European and Old World styles that they were trying to compete with. The local potters often drew influence from the wares that were imported into Charlestown and Faneuil Hall in Boston for their wares. I am curious to know how this type decoration was determined to ultimately be used. I am also curious to know if this was a product that was brought into Charlestown by someone who had come from elsewhere - or what the chances are that it was imported. I have also not seen anything like it in the archaeology I have examined in Philadelphia and New York City.

This is all rather interesting - especially since I have no definitive answer for the shard's origin. I would like to believe it was made in Charlestown - in-fact, all the signs suggest it was made in Charlestown since it was found alongside a pile of almost-obvious Charlestown made red earthenware, but I do not have concrete proof of it.  Hopefully the mystery behind this shard will continue to unfold as my studies into the archaeology of Charlestown's red earthenware industry continues.

I will leave you with a group of products that were made all-over America in the nineteenth-century that display some-type of crimp decoration that can relate.

Solomon Bell & Sons Glazed Red Earthenware Flower Pot - Strasburg, Va

Ca. 1870

Stands 4 5/8" Tall

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

Anthony Baecher Red Earthenware Flower Pot - Winchester, Va or Thurmont, Md
Ca. After 1875
Stands 6" Tall
Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc. - Sparks, Md

Galena, Illinois Red Earthenware Flower Pot
Ca. After 1850
Stands 8" Tall

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

Pennsylvania Red Earthenware Flower Pot - Possibly Chester County, Pa

Ca. 1850-1875

Stands 6" Tall

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

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