More From the Nan Gurley Antique Show Held on Sunday March 1st in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

This report will entail another compare and contrast, but this time it will include products that I believe could be related to the dozens of potters who worked in Southeastern Massachusetts (Bristol County) and the early Clark Pottery in Lyndeboro, New Hampshire in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. I have always perceived the Clark and Osborn (see past reports for more about the Osborn family) families as the centerpieces of the New Hampshire potter's industry in the 1800's - with the Clark's expanding their production line in the second-half of the nineteenth-century to include decorative wares and ancient-style reproduction products. To my knowledge, the Clarks were the only traditional utilitarian potter's family or business to experiment with this kind of product line in New Hampshire. There were other businesses; however, those companies (Hampshire Pottery, etc.) began under different circumstances and none established themselves before the American Revolution, like the Clark Pottery is known for today.

According to Lura Woodside Watkins book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares, "In Braintree, Massachusetts, Peter Clark (1743-1826) was running a pottery as early as 1763. He came from a Danvers (Mass.) family that moved to Braintree before he was born. He kept up his Danvers associations and was probably trained there. He even went back to Danvers (reportedly) in 1772 for clay...In 1775, the Clark family left Massachusetts for Lyndeboro, New Hampshire."

This brief, but descriptive citation really paints a solid picture of the important role Peter Clark played in the Massachusetts potter's industry before the American Revolution. He also contributed largely to the early years of the New Hampshire potter's industry after 1776. The turmoil that happened in Massachusetts in 1775 was obvious - and evidently, it may have persuaded Clark to leave the state; however, that is not information that I can be sure of today, but the reasons why he left may be undeniable.

Prior to the Clark family's starting a business in Lyndeboro, New Hampshire - the state's potter's industry was largely (almost exclusively) located near the seacoast in places like Portsmouth, Hampton and Exeter. Peter Clark (and his sons) may have seen an opportunity for his family to prosper as America fought for its independence. To some degree, he is almost entirely responsible for the birth of New Hampshire's potter's industry everywhere else in the state that did not include coastal communities. From what I can see - Peter Clark was among the first dozen-or-so potters employed in New Hampshire - and he was among the first who dared to set up a business in a town not involved with maritime trade. In some ways, Clark dared to see financial opportunities in the eighteenth-century that did not entirely exist in New Hampshire until the 1800's. Ultimately, I wonder what were the deciding factors that forced Clark and his family to leave for New Hampshire (of all years - it doesn't seem to be a coincidence that he left in 1775), which eventually allowed Clark to lay a foundation for his sons and future relatives to follow in his career path.

This is a follow-up report to one that I wrote earlier in the week; today, I would like to discuss a red earthenware pitcher that I purchased at the Nan Gurley Antique Show in Portsmouth, New Hampshire last Sunday. The dealer, whom I purchased it from, told me, she had owned it for the past twenty-or-more years.

Frank Jones Center - Portsmouth, NH

Nan Gurley Antique Show - Portsmouth, NH

When I first approached the pitcher on the showroom floor last Sunday, the form quickly suggested to me that it may have been made in Essex County, Massachusetts around the turn of the nineteenth-century; however, once I returned home from the show - I realized the pitcher may be related to a group of products that have been attributed in the past to the potters who worked in Bristol County, Massachusetts (Southeastern Mass.). What's interesting about this piece which is the ovoid belly is reminiscent of pitchers made in Essex County, Massachusetts throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. The handle is also reminiscent of those products, but the squared off rim with the distinct incised line drawn across the top is similar to a group of known jars that are usually attributed to Bristol County, Mass. today.

Here are two links to two jars that sold as part of an important collection that Northeast Auctions handled in Manchester, New Hampshire in the summer of 2011. These jars are simply attributed to Southeastern Massachusetts (ca. 1790-1820) with no specific potter or potter's business cited.

Northeast Auctions Summer 2011 Lot No. 165
Northeast Auctions Summer 2011 Lot No. 409

This is the pitcher I purchased at the show a little less than a week ago; also shown below is a jar related to the jars that sold at Northeast Auctions in the summer of 2011 - notice how similar the tops are on all of these products. They all appear related to me. I feel this pitcher was made by the same potter who produced these jars. The tops seem too similar in form and glaze to be a mere coincidence.

18th/Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher Possibly Made in SE Mass

Ca. 1790-1820

Stands 8 1/2" Tall

Purchased at a Nan Gurley Show in Portsmouth, NH

Another View of the Pitcher

View of the Handle

View of the Base

(Left) 18th/Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar

Stands 11"Tall

Very Similar Rim and Incised Line to that Seen on the Pitcher

What I'm trying to do in this report is to suggest that there may be a link that begins with the style seen on these pots that are regularly attributed to Southeastern Massachusetts, to Peter Clark in Lyndeboro and eventually elsewhere in New Hampshire.

The magazine, Early American Homes published a very important collection of New England-made red earthenware in the October 1999 edition. Pictured as part of that collection is another related jar that bears no specific attribution, but it is written that it could be a late-eighteenth-century product.

Early American Homes - October, 1999
There Are Two Great Articles in this Edition Covering New England-Made Redware

Jar Marked with an Arrow is Similar to the Jars of Discussion

Similar in Size to the Other Jars

Description of the Jar
It is Suggested to be a (Late) 18th-Century Product

This is where I am begin to get confused - the variegated green glazed pitcher shown below is attributed to the Clark Pottery (before 1820) in Lyndeboro, New Hampshire. Peter Clark, of course, traveled from Southern Massachusetts in 1775 to New Hampshire and with him, came his Essex County training and his knowledge of the Southern Massachusetts potter's industry.

This pitcher exhibits a similar squared-off rim with an incised line drawn in a similar manner to all of the previous pots in this report. The only difference with this top is that it is more squared-off than the others. These kinds of rims are known to have been used by potters who worked in a few areas of New Hampshire in the 1800's; however, the big difference is that I don't recall seeing any with an incised line across the top. Are the nineteenth-century New Hampshire products that I reference all the result of an influence from the early Clark family members? It's only a suggestion, but if any of this idea proves true then it appears that Peter Clark and his eighteenth-century Massachusetts background may have influenced more than only the Clark family members, who followed him in the potter's trade - rather, he may have influenced styles used elsewhere in New Hampshire in both direct and indirect areas from one-potter to the next. Of course, for now, this is all only a theory - take a moment to see how the following three tops/rims resemble each other in this photo.

Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher Attributed to the Clark Pottery in Lyndeboro, NH

Ca. 1790-1820

Stands 7 7/8" Tall

Found a Few Years Ago in Northwood, NH
(Back Left) SE Mass. Attributed Red Earthenware Jar
(Back Right) SE Mass Attributed Red Earthenware Pitcher

For more about red earthenware pots with similar formed tops, I would suggest searching the past sale results at auction houses such as Skinner, Inc. and Northeast Auctions. Potters in places like Concord, the Chesham region (Pottersville) and Plymouth, New Hampshire are also known today to have used this kind of style from time-to-time.

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