EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Recap of Tim Gould's November 22, 2014 Sale in Gardiner, Maine

Monday, November 24, 2014

A Recap of Tim Gould's November 22, 2014 Sale in Gardiner, Maine

A little more than one month ago, I wrote a report about a jar that sold this past Saturday at Tim Gould's auction in Gardiner, Maine; whereas, I had suggested in the report that it was very likely a product made in Charlestown, Massachusetts before the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. There were more than forty potters associated with this industry for more than a century, dating back to the 1600s.

The Charlestown industry both directly and indirectly influenced a large number of potters in the nineteenth-century in New England; without its demise, which was a result of the onslaught brought on by English troops on the morning of June 17, 1775, who knows what the landscape of the utilitarian red earthenware potter's industry would have looked like in New England in the 1800s.

I do believe this jar was made in Charlestown during the circa 1735 to 1755 period, where it is similar to objects that have been recovered in Charlestown within a similar context. Stylistically, the slip-decoration is very similar to a number of chamber pots and other artifacts recovered by archaeologists in Charlestown during the archaeology of Boston's Big Dig Project in the 1980s.

There has been discussion about what the intended purpose of this pot was used for and both a sugar pot and honey pot have been suggested. Unfortunately, I do not have an exact answer for its specific use.

When I handled this piece on Saturday, I was impressed with the decoration, form and especially the lid. I have never seen anything like it before; whereas, I have viewed many of the major private collections in New England and I have even visited many of the major museum collections across the country, but a pot of this magnitude does not appear to exist today. There has also been no restoration to this pot. It is in as-found condition.

The provenance is incredible: This pot has ties to Nina Fletcher Little, who was an extremely important individual within the field of American folk art and the early decorative arts here in New England. Her one-time summer home in Essex, Massachusetts, named Cogswell Grant has been turned into a museum with all of the original American furnishings and decorative arts still in-tact the way she would have displayed them.

There is also an important collection of almost entirely New England-made red earthenware at Cogswell's Grant, where I have previously written that there is nothing in that collection of this stature tied to the Charlestown industry.

The pot below not only has ties to Little, but it was also found in a home in Winchester, Massachusetts in 1976. Winchester is located only seven-miles northwest of Charlestown. Winchester is also only about five-miles from where the Battle of Lexington and Concord took place in 1776, which was the precursor to the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Charlestown, Mass. Red Earthenware Pot

18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Pot Attributed to Charlestown, Mass.
Sold to a Phone Bidder for More than $15,000
Reportedly Found in a Home in Winchester, MA in 1976

Circa 1735-177

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Tim Gould - Gardiner, ME

View of the Incredible Lid
Photo Courtesy: Tim Gould - Gardiner, ME

A View of One Handle
Both Handles Were Similar
Photo Courtesy: Tim Gould - Gardiner, ME

Nevertheless, as much as I was at the auction to see the pot above sell - I was also there to do a little bidding for myself. An exceedingly rare butter stamp was offered as part of the sale. I had no intentions of leaving the auction without buying this piece. I really wanted to add it to my collection. I knew information about this butter stamp that only a small number of people know today - and, it is thanks to southern Maine collector and cabinet maker, Rick Poore that I know this information.

An exact butter stamp was found in the house built by the potter, John Alld in Hollis, Maine. Alld is a highly sought after Maine potter today. The house was recently under construction and miraculously found inside an interior wall was a butter print that matched the object at Tim Gould's sale.

I feel it would be far-fetched to believe that another potter's work was purposely placed inside a very important potter's wall. I conversed with a group of Maine collectors at the sale, and between all of us, we only knew of a few examples that existed today. Even Tim Gould said, "Maine-made butter molds are extremely rare." He continued to say, "In all my years in the antiques business, I have only seen one other Maine butter mold, which was in my family's private collection."

Tim Gould Auction in Augusta, Maine