A Pair of Utilitarian New England-Made Red Earthenware Objects Discovered Today with Ties to Massachusetts and New Hampshire

Today, I met a young dealer, Gabe Ficht, who I have seen setup at some of the Nan Gurley Antique Shows in Portsmouth, New Hampshire earlier this year. He's a freshman at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, but he lives in Rowley, Massachusetts, which is near me in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He also sells out of Salt Marsh Antiques in Rowley. I asked him how he got into the antique business today - he told me the antique industry does not run in his family, but he said he has been a collector of colonial period coins since he was only five-years-old - and, really just one thing has led to another ever since. He also told me that antique coin collecting runs in his family.

The reason I saw him today is because he is a really good picker - and, he's come across some interesting redware lately. My eleven-year-old nephew, Jason and I actually met up with him - and, as result, we bought two pieces of redware.

Gabe told me this first piece was purchased at a small auction in New Hampshire about a month ago. It is a nineteenth-century form that is traditionally attributed to the potters, who worked in the Chesham region of New Hampshire by collectors and dealers today. This area was also called, 'Pottersville' employing more-than a dozen potters in the 1800's.

This form is not represented in my collection. I have had the opportunity to buy related forms in the past, but they always seem to have some-kind of damage, whether it was a bad chip, a broken handle or glaze loss. This example is in wonderful condition with a nice glaze - so, I purchased it.

I have found that a characteristic found on many of the Chesham wares is an attempt at a rounded base, but not a rounded footed base. I'm not positive if this was a characteristic only found in Chesham - or, if other potters used it elsewhere in New Hampshire, but it is not a characteristic that is found all-over New England in nearby places like Maine, Vermont or Massachusetts.

Map Showing Chesham, NH

Photo Courtesy: Google Maps

 19th Century Red Earthenware Jug Attributed to Chesham, NH

Originally Purchased at a Small Auction in NH

Ca. 1820-1860

Stands 7 7/8" Tall

 View of the Handle

 View of the Base

View of the Rounded Base

This next piece may not be the most appealing of all known forms for most collectors or museums today, but the fact is - it was a part of the New England red earthenware potter's output in the 1700's and the 1800's. It is also a rare New England form that I can not recall ever seeing in the open market before. The form is a bedpan. The reason I purchased it is because Gabe bought it directly from a Federal Period home on High Street in Newburyport, Massachusetts in the last few weeks. I couldn't pass it up with the chance that it could be from a local Massachusetts maker. It is also very-well made with a glaze that reminds me of glazes that were applied in Essex County, Massachusetts in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts owns a large collection of red earthenware chamber pots made in Essex Country; however, there are no bedpans represented in that collection. There are also some William Pecker Pottery (ca. 1790-1820) characteristics from Merrimacport, Massachusetts found on this bedpan. Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) refers to this form as a "sickroom necessity."

 18th/19th Century Red Earthenware Bedpan

Possibly from a Local Essex County, Massachusetts Potter

Discovered in a Federal Period House on High Street in Newburyport, MA

Measures 14" Long

Stands 3 1/8" Tall

 Another View of the Bedpan

View of the Base

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