EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: An Extremely Rare Slip Decorated Agate Cat Uncovered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Thursday, November 13, 2014

An Extremely Rare Slip Decorated Agate Cat Uncovered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In the world of the early American-made ceramics, Philadelphia has always been viewed as a city that dared the limits in ceramic production in the early nineteenth-century; it was viewed as a place that was often more advanced with its ceramic production than many of its American ceramic counterparts. Early nineteenth-century Philadelphia potters even produced more refined ceramics that many potters in similar cities did not even attempt.

According to an abstract written by Susan H. Myers for the book, Handcraft to Industry: Philadelphia Ceramics in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century; "Early in the nineteenth century, Philadelphia potters, like many American craftsmen, began to feel the effects of nascent industrial and economic change that would transform small traditional handcrafts into industries. Economic historians long have debated about the rate at which expansion took place during the first half of the century. In the Philadelphia potteries, the beginning of industrialization were evident in developments from the competition of English factory-made tableware and permitted American craftsmen briefly to emulate this mass-produced molded pottery...The process of industrialization and economic expansion in the Philadelphia potteries is significant not only as part of the history of the trade in that city but also because comparison with available data suggests that the Philadelphia example reflects patterns of change over much of American urban pottery manufacture. In conservative rural areas, change came more slowly but it appears the potters in other East Coast cities were affected by many of the same factors that influenced development in Philadelphia and that they responded in much the same way."

A few months ago, National Parks Services Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Archaeologist, Debbie Miller posted a photo online of a nineteenth-century whimsical slip decorated agate cat that really caught my attention. It was uncovered as part of the city's archaeology decades ago; the city's archaeology is a process that is still ongoing today. The hand-modeled cat appears to me to date from the early nineteenth-century. For those of you who do not know what the term agateware means; it is when the clay body of pottery is made up of contrasting colored clays that create a decorative effect. The technique was not overly popular with the American utilitarian potter's movement in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries; rather, it was a technique that was probably more popular in England. You can see the mixed clay effect on the cat below where part of the glaze has been lost and a white and reddish colored swirl is seen on the clay body.

To my knowledge, whimsical red earthenware figures, like cats, dogs and people were made throughout the counties in Pennsylvania in the nineteenth-century; however I cannot recall seeing too many figures attributed to Philadelphia before. This is a very rare example today - and it is even rarer, since it is a slip decorated agate product. What also makes it rare is the use of slip, which is a type of decoration not normally seen on whimsical figures from any American potter. The cat may have acted as a child's toy before it was either discarded or lost.

Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Agate Cat

Uncovered in Philadelphia, Pa

Likely Made by a Philadelphia, Pa Potter

Photo Courtesy: Debbie Miller, National Parks Services Archaeologist - Philadelphia, Pa

I recently acquired privately, a similar hand-modeled slip decorated cat in form; however rather than agate it is made of red earthenware. I'd like to believe this cat was made somewhere in Philadelphia; although I do not have any archaeological proof of it. The form of this cat really seems similar to the form uncovered in Philadelphia to me; the manner in which the slip decoration is applied on both cats also seems related.

Prior to my ownership, this cat was part of a collection of red earthenware that was predominantly made up of nineteenth-century Pennsylvania products with a few Philadelphia examples - I'd like to believe this cat is included as part of the Philadelphia-made products in that collection.

It's a charming piece, that measures just under three-inches tall. This is possibly an end of the day piece made by a potter that was inclined to break away from their mold of everyday production and instead, possibly made the cat figure as a toy for a loved-one or for children in the neighborhood. There are a number of potential meanings behind these types of whimsical figures today, such as why they were made, their purpose and who they were intended for; in some cases, our interpretation today can merely account to only speculation. This is a very neat piece!