EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Recap of Today's Nan Gurley Antique Show in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Sunday, March 1, 2015

A Recap of Today's Nan Gurley Antique Show in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

With spring less-than three-weeks away, the Nan Gurley Antique Show schedule is beginning to wind down at the Frank Jones Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; however, that does not mean the number of antiques entering and leaving the building is slowing down. Today, marked another Sunday morning show. I've always found these shows to be a lot of fun ever since first attending one a few years ago. I can recall that first show; Cape Cod antique dealer, Brian Cullity brought with him an extremely rare example of Charles A. Lawrence's multi-slip decorated pottery made in Beverly, Massachusetts that I purchased. Previously, I had never seen an example of Beverly-made pottery before. It's a subject that I had only read about. He told me to smell the small creamer. It had an obvious maple syrup aroma to it. Its a few years later now and it still smells the same way. Its a good assumption to believe that this creamer was used for maple syrup. I can only imagine the breakfasts it must have witnessed. Brian told me it was originally discovered in a house on Cape cod. This was also my first time meeting Brian Cullity, a name I knew-well because of an important book on American-made red earthenware he had assembled in the early-1990's to coincide with an exhibit of those products at the Sandwich (Mass.) Museum on Cape Cod. The book, Slipped and Glazed: Regional American Redware by Brian was among the first books that I read on the subject of America-made utilitarian pottery.

I was thrilled to come home with such an example of C.A. Lawrence Pottery. This helped spark my interest in this business, which has partially consumed much of my red earthenware research in the past four-years.

I purchased three examples of red earthenware made in the nineteenth-century today - and two of those pieces I will write about in this report.

Nan Gurley Antique Show - Portsmouth, NH

Frank Jones Center - Portsmouth, NH

Coincidentally, when I was waiting for the doors to open for the show today - I thought about the first time I attended one of these shows. I thought about which entrance I should go in. There are two sets of doors that open when the Nan Gurley shows begin at 10:00 am in Portsmouth; they are located at both ends of the showroom. As of late, I have been entering the doors that open nearest the entrance to the Frank Jones Center; however, I contemplated today whether I should go in the doors that I have been using lately - or, should I use the doors that I entered that first time I attended a show in Portsmouth. Jokingly, I wondered if it would bring me good luck. I guess it can be considered a strategy of which doors to enter since certain dealers are located closer to a certain entrance. None-the-less, I chose to enter the way I have been going in as of late.

Soon after entering the showroom, I saw a brightly glazed red earthenware pitcher that I have been eyeing for a while now. Maine dealers, Butch Berdan and Tom Jewett have had it with them at some of the recent shows, which include the York, Pennsylvania Antique Show last month. The pitcher is believed to have been made in Essex County, Massachusetts; although, I felt it may have held a more specific attribution that I could prove.

I brought the pitcher outside this morning to look at it in bright sunlight; a friend of mine, who I have also learned a good-deal from looked at it with me. My immediate reaction was that this pitcher exhibited a very-rare glaze that I have never seen before from the C.A. Lawrence Pottery in Beverly. He agreed with me. What led us to this was the overall form, the rim, the handle, the way the potter cut away at the base and the clay color seen on the bottom.

Shown below along with the Beverly-made piece I purchased today is a very-similar formed pitcher that is a known glaze-style and form from Charles A. Lawrence's business from the 1860's and the early-1870's (see Watkins, Early New England Potters and Their Wares, Figure 57a). It was purchased from the very-important William Kelly Young (1933-2009) Collection that sold at Crocker Farm, Inc. in Sparks, Maryland in January of 2010. Young owned an oil company in Texas as a career; however, he also showed a passion for early American redware and stoneware that began in the early 1980's. This pitcher is among the pieces that I am thrilled to own from his collection today. I've actually heard some nice stories about Mr. Young from some of the dealers who used to sell to him in years past.

Here is a link to another example of important Beverly, Mass.-made pottery that Crocker Farm also sold; the base is nearly identical to the base seen on the pitcher I bought today. This pitcher now resides in a very-important collection in the midwest.

19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher Very-Likely Made at C.A. Lawrence Pottery - Beverly, Ma

Ca. 1870

Stands 8 1/2" Tall

Purchased from Jewett & Berdan Antiques - Newcastle, Me

View of the Handle

View of the Base

(Right) C.A. Lawrence Pottery Multi-Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Pitcher - Beverly, Ma

Ca. 1870

Stands 5 7/8" Tall

Ex-Collection of William Kelly Young - Fort Worth - TX

View of Both Similar Handles

As I have already said, this wasn't all I bought today: I also purchased this brightly glazed red earthenware jar also from Butch Berdan and Tom Jewett. I don't specifically know where the jar was made, but it appears to be a New England maker to me. The glaze is what really captured my attention. It sparkled when I brought it outside in the sunlight. It had a really "nature-like" appearance to it that reminded me of colors I would see in a forest in the summer months. Connecticut dealer and collector, Lewis Scranton has used the phrase "sphagnum peat moss glaze" to me before and that's kind of the idea I thought of when I closely examined this jar today.

Butch said to me, "I'll give it to you for a good price" - and it didn't make sense to leave it behind. The glaze does remind me of glazes that would have been used in Maine in the 1800's, but the form doesn't suggest Maine-made to me. The form appears more-like a Massachusetts potter; however, for now, it falls into the area of a pot that I will have to do more research with at a later time. For now, I will enjoy it for what it is; a beautifully thrown American-made pot with a spectacular glaze.