A Pair of Rare Jars Likely Linked to the Dozens of Red Earthenware Potters Who Worked in Essex County, Mass. in the 1800's

The William T. Brandon Collection of American Redware and Ceramics is a prominent assortment of pottery that a friend of mine helped broker into Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Massachusetts not too long ago. I just recently noticed an orange glazed red earthenware jar from the early nineteenth-century that is a part of this collection that is reminiscent of a similar red earthenware jar I discovered while at a neighborhood yard sale in Gloucester, Massachusetts last summer. According to Historic Deerfield, "the number 16 is incised on the jar." Written on the base in pencil is, "1915 Wilmington, Mass." Previous to the Brandon Collection, the jar reportedly resided in the important Burton N. Gates Collection - and "1915 Wilmington, Mass." may be indicative of when and where Gates purchased or acquired the jar from. The museum also suggests the jar was made between the years 1800 and 1850 - and while I can not provide an exact attribution for the jar, I believe it was likely made somewhere in Essex County, Massachusetts at one of the near dozen or-so potter's businesses that were employed in the area in the 1800's. The jar itself is an extremely rare form to find today. In-fact, I only know of two jars that have survived in this form - that being the jar in Historic Deerfield and the jar I found in Gloucester last summer.

Here is a link to a more detailed description about the jar through Historic Deerfield's website.

 Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made in Essex County, Mass.

Reportedly Found or Purchased in Wilmington, Mass. in 1915

Ca. 1800-1850

Stands 7 7/16" Tall

William T. Brandon Memorial Collection of American Redware and Ceramics

Photo Courtesy: Historic Deerfield - Deerfield, Mass.

 Pencil Writing on the Bottom of the Jar

Photo Courtesy: Historic Deerfield - Deerfield, Mass.

Incised Number 16 on the Side of the Jar

Photo Courtesy: Historic Deerfield - Deerfield, Mass.

This is the jar I found in Gloucester last summer; the form is nearly identical when compared to the jar in Historic Deerfield's collection, but it is much larger. The bright orange glaze is gorgeous! Neither jar in this report ever possessed a lid, but rather a cloth may have been tied over the top with a string if needed to secure the contents inside.

 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made in Essex County, Mass.

Found at a Yard Sale in Gloucester, Mass. in July of 2014

Ca. 1800-1850

Stands 11 3/4" Tall

 View of the Interior

 View of the Base

I also wanted to show this hand-thrown red earthenware dish that I found last weekend while out picking on the Maine seacoast. Everything about it suggests that it was made in the nineteenth-century somewhere - and the fact that it is hand-thrown rather than many bowls and plates of the period that actually were hand-pressed over a mold - suggests that the dish may have been made in New England unlike places such as Ohio, where molded utilitarian kitchen wares became popular in the late nineteenth and twentieth-centuries. For a comparison, the clay color and the orange glaze on the dish is very-similar to the jars of this report. I have just never seen this form attributed to New England before. If this dish were made in New England - it would likely have been made in Essex County, central New Hampshire or southern Maine.

 Possibly 19th Century Hand-Thrown Red Earthenware Dish

Found in Arundel, Maine

Measures 8 1/4" Wide

Stands 2 1/8" Tall

 Another View of the Dish

View of the Base

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

An Orange Glazed Red Earthenware Covered Dish Discovered in Maine that May Date from the Eighteenth-Century

A small handful of nice discoveries were made last weekend when I traveled the New England seacoast between Rowley, Massachusetts and Portland, Maine. With the blizzard of 2015 affecting some of the people who may read this report, I thought over the next few days, I would show some of the pottery I discovered while on this trip. The example I am going to show in this morning's report, gives off an eighteenth-century feeling - even-though, I am not positive whether it was really manufactured in the eighteenth or early-nineteenth-century.

The ensuing hand-thrown red earthenware lidded dish was found inside a vintage group shop a few miles north of Kennebunkport, Maine. This particular dealer's space was almost entirely filled with utilitarian pottery from a random number of places and periods. Most of it appeared to date from the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries. The particular piece that I am writing about today, appeared older than anything else this dealer had to offer - and importantly, all of the material in this dealer's space was reportedly found in Maine.

My initial reaction when I saw this dish was that it was American-made. When I looked it over, I noticed the lid was glazed on both sides, which is a characteristic I have seen on lidded dishes from the eighteenth-century in Massachusetts and elsewhere outside of the region; however, I also noticed the dish itself was hand-thrown by the potter and so wasn't the lid. The overall form really translates into the skill of whoever this potter was. The base of the dish is mostly unglazed, with small traces of what I describe as an "accidental" glaze randomly seen on the bottom. The handles are also quite nice. Overall, this lidded dish is decorated with a clear interior and exterior orange lead glaze.

On the lid, there is a small trace of slip decoration that was likely accidentally splattered by the potter or decorator, but this is also important to understand - considering this pot was likely produced by someone who used slip decoration on their products. It's in my opinion that slip decoration was used more in Pennsylvania than anywhere else in America in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries - and I attempt to make a comparison with this dish to known Pennsylvania products shown below.

 Late 18th or Early 19th Century Lidded Dish 

Recently Found in a Vintage Shop on the Maine Seacoast South of Portland, Me

Ca. 1780-1820

Stands 6 1/2" Tall with Lid
Measures 9 1/2" Wide from Handle-to-Hanle

 View of One of the Handles

 View from Under One of the Handles

 View of the Top of the Hand-Thrown Lid
Notice the Drop of Slip Just Below the Knob

A Better View of the Drop of Slip
This Suggests that the Potter May Have Worked with Slip

 View of the Interior of the Hand-Thrown Lid

 View of the Interior of the Hand-Thrown Dish with a View of Both Handles

 View of the Sloped Sides

Notice the Nicely Incised Line Placed Just Below the Rim

View of the Base with Some Traces of "Accidental" Glaze

As I continued to look at this dish while in the shop, I imagined it without its handles and its lid - this vision left me with a form that reminded me of some stoneware spittoons made in Pennsylvania in the nineteenth-century. Here is an example that Crocker Farm, Inc. in Sparks, Maryland attributes to possibly Philadelphia (Pennsylvania); you will see this spittoon has similar sides that slope inward like the dish above. If you continue to compare these forms further, you will see the dish has an incised line for decoration that was placed just below the rim. The spittoon has a similar decoration; however, its incised line (lines) is placed around the base.

Stoneware Spittoon with Cobalt Flower Decoration

Probably Made in Philadelphia, Pa

Measures 4" Tall and 8" Wide

Ca. 1870

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc. Sparks, Md

Here is a red earthenware mug that is in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania that shows similar sloped in sides. The museum attributes the mug to Bucks County, Pennsylvania from the early to mid-nineteenth-century. This museum also owns a small number of lidded bowls as part of its Pennsylvania-German Collection; I have seen these bowls and the idea behind some of them does remind me of the idea behind the lidded dish shown above.

Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Mug Likely Made in Bucks County, Pa

Stands 2 1/4" Tall

Ca. 1800-1840

Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art - Philadelphia, Pa

This is another example of a red earthenware product with sloped in sides attributed to Pennsylvania; shown here is what is described as an early nineteenth-century red earthenware measure that may have been used to weigh ingredients in the kitchen. This picture was taken from the book, Early American Folk Pottery written by Harold F. Guilland and published in 1950. 

Early 19th Century Drawing of a Red Earthenware Measure Attributed to Pennsylvania

Stands 4 1/2" Tall

Ca. Early 1800s

Photo Courtesy: Early American Folk Pottery, Guilland, 1950, Chilton Book Company

While I have no definitive attribution for the covered dish of discussion - I do feel a Pennsylvania attribution is possible based on the overall form, use and glaze of the dish. Tomorrow, I will discuss another fabulous find I made while on my picking trip last weekend.

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

A Newly Discovered 19th Century Handled Crock from a Home in Winchester, Massachusetts

It will be a real brief report today and a shift of direction from the short series I wrote last week; this morning, I am going to show a piece of pottery that I purchased yesterday from a friend of mine who lives in Rowley, Massachusetts. This particular friend often receives house calls in the Boston-area and whenever he finds a piece of red earthenware - he puts it aside for me. Yesterday, out of boredom caused from the snowstorm here in the northeast, I decided to escape my house in Newburyport, Massachusetts and make a visit to this friend to see if he had come across anything lately - and to my luck, he had. Fresh from a home in Winchester, Massachusetts, he discovered a wonderful red earthenware handled crock with a bright yellow and raspberry colored glaze. Ironically, Winchester is also the place where an incredible eighteenth-century lidded jar made in Charlestown, Massachusetts that recently sold at a Tim Gould Auction in Gardiner, Maine was found in 1976.

Here is the crock! I just love this form and the colorful glaze!

 Likely Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Handled Crock 

Recently Found in House in Winchester, Mass.
Possibly Made in Coastal New Hampshire

Stands 10 5/8" Tall

 View of a Handle

The Glaze is Spectacular

 View of the Other Handle

View of the Base

A very similar form handled crock (also measures the same height) is in the collection of Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Massachusetts as part of the William T. Brandon Collection of American Redware and Ceramics. The variation in form may account for different potters employed at the same business.

The crock in Historic Deerfield is identified with a possible attribution of having been manufactured in Exeter, New Hampshire in the  mid-nineteenth-century (ca. 1840-1860); however, I feel the crock is actually a piece that was made before 1820 (earlier than what the museum attributes it to). I have seen this form attributed to Exeter before - I even know of a piece in an important private collection today that was discovered by a long-time coastal Massachusetts collector and antiques dealer a number of years ago - in a basement in an early house in Exeter. 

Here's is a link for the full description of that item in Historic Deerfield.

Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Crock with a Nice Mottled Glazed

Likely Made in Exeter, NH

Stands 10 5/8" Tall

William T. Brandon Collection of American Redware and Ceramics

Photo Courtesy: Historic Deerfield - Deerfield, Ma

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

A Small Slip Decorated Pitcher From an Early Farm House in Rochester, New Hampshire

Today's report marks the sixth - and final installment of this week's mini series taken from the small collection of red earthenware owned by scholar and antiques dealer, Hollis Brodrick in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Traditionally, eighteenth-century red earthenware mostly lives in literature, archaeology and museum collections today; however, my impression from this series is that there are examples of eighteenth-century utilitarian pottery alive-and-well out there today. It isn't necessarily always attributed properly, either. For example, an incredible example of colonial red earthenware recently emerged at a Tim Gould auction in Augusta, Maine - prior to the sale, it was previously undocumented. Nonetheless, a matter of only a few weeks before the sale the pot was properly attributed as a rare example from the overly-important Charlestown, Massachusetts potter's industry made before 1775 (possibly before 1750) resulting in six phone bids from around the country and a final hammer price that reached five-figures.

  18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Lidded Pot

Likely Made in Charlestown, Ma 

Possibly Made at the Parker Family Pottery

Possibly Ca. 1735-1755

The Pot was Reportedly Found in a Home in Winchester, Ma in 1976

The Pot also Reportedly Has Ties to Nina Fletcher Little

 View of One of the Handles

View of the Lid

The last piece from Hollis' collection is arguably my favorite piece of all of which he owns mainly because of its decoration, form and it may also have a close connection to where I live today; although, I do cherish the slip dotted eighteenth-century mug that was interpreted in the second report, as well.

This small slip decorated pitcher or creamer was recovered from a very-old farm house in Rochester, New Hampshire years ago. It merely stands three-and-a-half inches tall. I love the squiggled slip on the front that resembles an "X." I have no-doubt this piece dates from the eighteenth-century - and it was possibly made by an Essex County, Massachusetts potter. Let me explain.

While I do not believe I will be able to provide an absolute guaranteed attribution for this small pitcher, even though, I do feel I have a very good argument into where it may have been made. With that understanding, I firmly believe the manner in which the slip was applied on this small pitcher is related to a slip decorated chamber pot that was uncovered in a circa 1770 archaeological context inside a privy at the Narbonne House in Salem, Massachusetts. The Narbonne House was built as a middle-class occupancy in the late-seventeenth-century directly in front of Salem's docks - and it remained this way, until the property was purchased by the National Parks Services in the twentieth-century. Basically, if any of the homeowner's had chosen to do so, they could have had their choice pick of whatever was dropped off at Salem's docks and it is possible that this chamber pot was among those imports. According to the archaeology report, "This chamber pot is illustrated and fragments from several other chamber pots are shown from the Daniel Bayley Pottery site in Newburyport, Massachusetts (1764-1799), that all show similar brushwork." If the archaeology report is correct (and I believe it is), its possible that Daniel Bayley was exporting his company's wares directly from Newburyport's harbor south into Salem's harbor, which would have dropped off products like chamber pots directly in front of the Narbonne House. As for how products were distributed from there is a whole other story.

Newburyport, Ma Harbor

Many Products Were Exported and Imported Through this Harbor in the 1700's and the 1800's

Narbonne House - Salem, Ma

Built in the Late 1600's in Front of Salem's Waterfront and Docks

The Following Chamber Pot was Discovered in a Privy on the Property of the Narbonne House

 18th Century Chamber Pot Recovered at the Narbonne House in Salem, Ma

Uncovered from a Privy in a Circa 1770 Archaeological Context

Purportedly Made at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company (Ca. 1764-1799) in Newburyport, Ma

Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services, Narbonne House - Salem, Ma

The Slip Decoration Appears to be Related to the Object Discussed in this Report

Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services, Narbonne House - Salem, Ma

The reason I am hesitant to say if this pitcher was made at the Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport is because this was not the only potter's business that worked in the city in the 1760's and the early 1770's. Ebenezer Morrison and Clement Kent also operated businesses and it is believed that all three businesses produced similar wares even though Bayley's business was likely the most prominent and widely known today.

The distance between Newburyport and Rochester, New Hampshire is roughly thirty-five miles, which is a similar distance between Newburyport and Salem that being twenty-five miles; although, Salem would have been a more direct route considering both cities were maritime communities with large export and import industries.

Map Showing the Distance Between Rochester, NH, Newburyport, Ma and Salem, Ma

Photo Courtesy: Google Maps

Without any further information, pictured below, are a number of photos of the small pitcher or creamer of discussion that I feel is related to one of the aforementioned businesses that operated in Newburyport in the eighteenth-century. I personally feel the pitcher may date as early as 1760 and as late as the 1790's.

18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Small Pitcher or Creamer

Discovered in an Early Farm House in Rochester, NH

Possibly Related to the Chamber Pot Uncovered at the Narbonne House in Salem, Ma

Possibly Related to Newburyport, Ma

Ca. 1760-1799

Stands 3 1/2" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Hollis Brodrick Antiques - Portsmouth, NH

View of the Slip Decoration

Photo Courtesy: Hollis Brodrick Antiques - Portsmouth, NH

Another View of the Slip Decoration

Photo Courtesy: Hollis Brodrick Antiques - Portsmouth, NH

View of the Side of the Small Pitcher or Creamer

Photo Courtesy: Hollis Brodrick Antiques - Portsmouth, NH

View of the Handle

Photo Courtesy: Hollis Brodrick Antiques - Portsmouth, NH

View From Another Side of the Small Pitcher or Creamer

Photo Courtesy: Hollis Brodrick Antiques - Portsmouth, NH

View of the Interior and the Pouring Spout

Photo Courtesy: Hollis Brodrick Antiques - Portsmouth, NH

View of the Base

Photo Courtesy: Hollis Brodrick Antiques - Portsmouth, NH

For a comparison, here are a number of sherds that Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins collected at the Bayley Pottery site in Newburyport in the 1930's. It should be important to consider that there were a handful of potters who worked at this business from 1764 until 1799 so decorations likely varied due to multiple persons applying their interpretation of slip onto the business' red earthenware products. These sherds were used for a chapter's worth of discussion when Watkins published, Early New England Potters and Their Wares in 1950. The sherds currently reside as part of the Watkins collection at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Its important to notice the chamber pot that is decorated below on the front with a squiggled-type "X" or crossing decoration in slip; although, it is not exactly like the decoration seen on the small pitcher or creamer above, even though it certainly is similar.

 Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Sherds - Newburyport, Ma

Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Bayley Pottery Site in the 1930's

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Sherds - Newburyport, Ma

Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Bayley Pottery Site in the 1930's

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Sherds - Newburyport, Ma

Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Bayley Pottery Site in the 1930's

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Sherd - Newburyport, Ma

Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Bayley Pottery Site in the 1930's

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Sherd - Newburyport, Ma

Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Bayley Pottery Site in the 1930's

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Sherds - Newburyport, Ma

Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Bayley Pottery Site in the 1930's

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Sherd - Newburyport, Ma

Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Bayley Pottery Site in the 1930's

Notice the "X" Type Decoration that is Similar to the Small Pitcher or Creamer Above

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Sherds - Newburyport, Ma

Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Bayley Pottery Site in the 1930's

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Sherds - Newburyport, Ma

Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Bayley Pottery Site in the 1930's

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

Here are a couple of products that I believe are related to the pitcher of discussion that Robesonian, Pennsylvania scholar and antiques dealer, Greg Kramer has brought to recent shows around the country. Both were purchased far-from their original contexts when they were removed from prominent private national collections. Previous to those collections, they had traveled from other private collections and antiques dealers - so the fact they are currently in Pennsylvania now has nothing to do with where they were possibly made. These are both remarkable examples!

Bottom Row, Center: Similar Small Pitcher or Creamer to that Shown Above in this Report

Possibly Related to Newburyport, Mass. in the 18th Century

Photo Courtesy: Greg Kramer Antiques - Robesonia, Pa

Bottom Row, Left: Mug with Similar Decoration as all of the Forms Seen in this Report

Possibly Related to Newburyport, Mass. in the 18th Century

Photo Courtesy: Greg Kramer Antiques - Robesonia, Pa

This report completes this week's study of red earthenware from Hollis Brodrick's collection. If anyone feels they have any eighteenth-century pieces they would like me to write about or research - I would be happy to take on the task.

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