EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Quite Possibly, a Very Important Discovery this Morning at a Flea Market in Essex County, Massachusetts

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Quite Possibly, a Very Important Discovery this Morning at a Flea Market in Essex County, Massachusetts

I forgot to set my alarm clock this morning, but I managed to wake up in time at 5:30 am to go to a weekly flea market that I try to attend when I am around, which is called 'Todd's Farm Flea Market' in Rowley, Massachusetts. I am glad, I did, too because I may have made a significant discovery today, which seems to imitate a known English-style of product. The dealers, who I purchased my find from - told me they bought a box lot of redware at an auction in New Hampshire recently - and, this object was included in that box lot. They told me that "(they) sold off all the good stuff for a ton of money and this was the left over piece." They told me it was very old, but they couldn't find any information about it - so, they brought it to the flea market today to get rid of, along, with a bunch of other objects from their barn and basement.

Personally, I don't remember seeing any redware box lots recently sold in New Hampshire - so, I am not familiar with what auction this came from; however, it may have been at a huge estate sale that happened last weekend in the lakes region. W.A. Smith Auctions based in Plainfield, New Hampshire sold off the contents of a multi-generation home that originally dates back to Ohio, where a number of the objects in the auction had originally traveled from. Unfortunately, due to the timing, I couldn't attend the sale. It's possible that this piece may have come from that auction, but I have no proof of it. I didn't ask the dealers what auction, but they did tell me that the other redware was sold in Brimfield, Massachusetts this past week.

Todd's Farm Flea Market - Rowley, Mass.

According to a book written by Edwin Atlee Barber in 1893, 'The Pottery and Porcelain of the United States,' "A queensware pottery in Philadelphia in 1808, was known as the Columbian Pottery, of which Alexander Trotter was proprietor, and examples of his work were exhibited at Peale's Museum in that year. At the great Republican dinner of July 4, 1808, an 'elegant jug and goblets from the new queensware manufactory of Trotter & Co.' formed part of the table service. Governor Simon Snyder, in his message to the Pennsylvania Legislator, in December, 1809, referred to this factory when he stated that 'we have lately established in Philadelphia a queensware pottery on an extensive scale.'

The Columbian Pottery was situated on South Street, between twelfth and thirteenth, in 1810. The ware produced there was claimed to be equal in quality and workmanship to the best made in Staffordshire (England). Mr. Trotter retired from business about 1813 (or 1814)."

According to a book written by Susan Myers in 1980, 'Handcraft to Industry: Philadelphia Ceramics in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century,' "The success of this business was emphasized further in an 1811 advertisement in which 'The proprietors of the Columbian Pottery' announced that they have greatly improved the quality of their ware as well as added to their works, so as enable them to keep a constant supply, proportioned to the increasing demand.

In an 1813 advertisement the potters appealed to their prospective customers with the assertion that the rates are less than half the price of the cheapest imported Liverpool Queensware can be purchased at.

Evidence that wares from the Columbian Pottery were respected enough to be marketed outside of Philadelphia appears in a 25 May 1810 advertisement from the Alexandria (Virginia) Gazette in which William Ramsay, a prominent merchant advertised that he had in 'constant supply...a near assortment of Earthen Ware from the Columbian Pottery, Philadelphia.' It is quite likely that Trotter's earthenware was also being marketed in Baltimore and other cities along Philadelphia's coastwise trade routes."

Everything that I know about this business today, I have learned from Philadelphia archaeologist, Debbie Miller, who first introduced me to this subject nearly two years ago at Dish Camp in upstate New York. Again, last year, she also discussed this subject, also, at Dish Camp in Historic Eastfield Village just outside of Albany, New York.

I believe today that I may have discovered an example of queensware made somewhere in America in the early-nineteenth-century. I am not one-hundred percent sure of who the potter would have been, but this object definitely exhibits some of the expected characteristics. You will notice that the plate has a few areas where slip decoration accidentally spilled onto it. I hope to present more information about this piece at a later time.

These first two photos show how the molded (moulded) platter appears with a camera flash. The white on the back of the platter appears to be something that someone added to protect an area where there was some glaze loss. If I were to remove it - it would flake off very easily, but I am going to leave it as-is for now.