EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Two Days of Adventures: Picking My Way Through Southern Maine and Northern Connecticut

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Two Days of Adventures: Picking My Way Through Southern Maine and Northern Connecticut

I was on vacation from my job in the Boston television industry this week; rather than utilizing my entire vacation as a planned destination, I decided to designate a few days to picking parts of New England. Earlier this week, I drove north to the southern Maine seacoast; I walked through a number of shops from York to Arundel in search of any newly found pottery that typically makes its way into some of these shops by way of low-end auctions, estate sales and house clean outs. I've actually done pretty-well with this approach searching through these collectible-type shops over the past few years. It's usually hit-or-miss, but you never know what you may come across if you don't look. Below are a few of the shops I went into, but this time around - nothing was found in any of these shops.

Antique Shop on Route 1 on the Southern Maine Seacoast

In one of the first shops I stopped into was packed with all sorts of material - and in it, I discovered a nineteenth-century red earthenware spittoon in nearly perfect condition. According to what I have read, "In the late nineteenth-century, spittoons became a very common feature found in American pubs, brothels, saloons, hotels, stores, banks, railway carriages and other places where people (usually men) gathered."

I've seen red earthenware and stoneware spittoons made by utilitarian potters from all-over the United States that span from Virginia and Pennsylvania, right up through Western New York and into the heart of New England; however, this is the first spittoon I have ever seen that I can possibly attribute to coastal Massachusetts. The contrast of the orange and yellow glaze is often found on products made from northeast Massachusetts all the way south into southeastern Massachusetts. It should be pointed out that most of the products I am referring to in this area were made in the early nineteenth-century and this product pretty-much certainly dates after 1860 when spittoons became fashionable. I guess there is also a chance this spittoon was made in places like southern Maine or even in on the New Hampshire seacoast in Exeter, but the refinement of its production leans more towards the Massachusetts industry to me. I believe this is a rare form not often seen today in this part of New England.

Mid-to-Late 19th Century Red Earthenware Spittoon

Likely Made Somewhere Along Coastal Massachusetts

Found Earlier this Week in a Collectible Shop on the Southern Maine Seacoast

Very Rare Form from Any Coastal Massachusetts Potter

Measures 3 3/4" Tall and 7" Wide at the Base

View of the Base

View of the Interior

View of the Incised Line Decoration

Yesterday, I traveled southwest to the northern part of Connecticut to pick through the antique shops in Putnam, which included a huge three-floor, thirty-five thousand square foot group shop filled with 350 different dealers spaces. Unfortunately, I didn't find anything I had to bring home from his store, but I did see a very rare Albany-glazed stoneware jug that was creatively incised with the potter's name (hand-drawn block-fonts), John Low. It was a simple formed jug, but the name made it really special.

John Low gained a great-deal of fame in the late nineteenth-century when he established the Low Art Tile Company (Ca. 1879-1890) in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The company produced high-end art tiles that were often used as decoration for large restrooms, ice cream part parlors and even mantels that surround fireplaces. Some of the Victorian architecture in and around Boston today still retains such examples of this line of decoration from Low's company.

A single tile from this business can cost upwards of a thousand-dollars or more today depending on the subject, size and form. They are collectible and even some museums keep examples of Low Art Tile's work (i.e. the Smithsonian and Historic New England).

The reason the stoneware jug caught my attention is because it was personally signed by Low, which is something I have never seen before - and secondly, I was not aware of any stoneware jugs made by John Low in Chelsea. Simply put, the jug is a very rare piece that some people may not have been aware was apart of the output in Chelsea in the 1880s; I certainly was not aware of it. It was priced accordingly to its worth so I passed; maybe I will go back at another time!

As I made my way south into Connecticut, I drove past a breathtaking sight that I was forced to stop and photograph. I am not totally sure what it was that I saw, but I believe this may have been an early dam system in full-operation. It was a beautiful late fall setting in northeastern Connecticut that I couldn't resist stopping to see. I could have spent hours at this location - there was also an old brick foundation that I didn't photograph that I also checked out.

After finding nothing in Putnam, I decided to drive a few miles east to a shop I found through a Google search in South Woodstock, Connecticut called, Scranton's Antiques. Ironically, the last name Scranton is a very important name associated with the New England red earthenware community over the past forty or more years; however there is no association between that name and this shop. It was just an interesting coincidence!

Scranton's Antiques - South Woodstock, Ct

In this shop, I found a spectacular example of Charles A. Lawrence Pottery made in Beverly, Massachusetts after 1872 hidden on a back shelf on the second floor. It was discounted because they haven't been able to sell it. I've seen a similar form made in Beverly with a similar decoration before; however I have not seen this type of decorated jar with these handles before. This type of formed handles are among the more popular handles I have found on handled products from Beverly; however what really drew me to this jar is the spectacular original blue paint. I've never seen anything like it before. The color is incredible in-person! The hand-thrown pot or jar is just a beautiful piece that I couldn't resist. I also couldn't resist the discounted price of only ten bucks!!