A 19th Century Red Earthenware Tree-Trunk Planter Found in Maine - and, the 19th Stoneware Tree-Trunk Planters that were Produced in Maine

When I attended, the Dr. Burton Pearl auction in Blue Hill, Maine last summer - I stopped to inspect an antique shop on my way home that was located about forty-five-minutes southwest of Blue Hill in the seacoast community of Searsport, Maine. It wasn't a traditional antique shop, either - rather, someone had converted an old barn into a shop. The people, who owned the store, told me, that most of their inventory comes from the immediate area. My first impression was that this was going to be 'fun' seeing that there was an overwhelming amount of inventory to scavenge through that spilled onto the lawn directly in front of the red barn, which was appropriately named, the 'Treasures and Trash Barn.'

Inside of the barn, buried with many vintage tools and a number of other accessories, I found, a red earthenware tree-trunk planter that I felt was produced by a Maine potter in the later years of the nineteenth-century; however, I had no proof of where in the state it may have been made. Previously, I only knew of stoneware tree-trunk planters that were made in places like Worcester, Massachusetts at the Norton Stoneware Pottery in the 1800's - and in other places, such as businesses based in some of the Midwestern states during the same period. I speculated and I thought about it on my three-hour drive home to Newburyport, Massachusetts, but I couldn't recall ever seeing another red earthenware example before. I thought there may have been some made in Pennsylvania, but I wasn't sure of it.

What's exceptional about this red earthenware planter is that it was hand-thrown with much of the decoration on the interior having been hand-drawn with some sort of tool. This hand-thrown object also contradicts some of the known stoneware forms from the late-nineteenth-century today, which were molded products. My theory behind this planter revolved around the idea that a potter may have encountered one of the stoneware forms, which inspired them to make their own tree-truck planters.

I asked the family, who owned the antique shop, where the object came from - unfortunately, they couldn't remember, but they did say that it was likely found locally.

For anyone, who may be wondering or curious to know, whether this could be a Canadian-made object - I believe that it is American-made. I have not seen anything in my studies regarding Canadian-made pottery that would suggest this form was made in places like Quebec and Nova Scotia in the late-nineteenth-century.

Antique Shop on the Side of the Road in Searsport, ME

Shop is Called 'Treasures and Trash Barn'

 Late-19th Century Hand-Thrown Red Earthenware Tree-Trunk Planter

Possibly Made by a Maine Potter

Stands 7 3/4" Tall

Discovered in Searsport, ME Last Summer (2014)

 Another View of the Tree-Trunk Planter

 View of the Interior

View of the Base

The largest issue that I had with suggesting that this red earthenware planter was made in Maine was the result of never having seen an actual object in this form that was properly attributed to Maine before; however, that quickly changed, when I discovered that the Maine State Museum in Augusta, Maine actually owns a molded stoneware tree-truck example made at the Bangor Stoneware Company in Bangor, Maine in the late-nineteenth-century. It was acquired by the museum, as part of the Dr. Charles E. Burden collection.

Coincidentally, Bangor, Maine is also located only about thirty-miles north of Searsport - so, it is possible that a red earthenware potter, who worked in this area in the late-1800's may have been influenced or inspired by the molded stoneware planters made in Bangor - and, they opted to produce some of their own in the 1880's (but, it's also possible that this red earthenware example may even date from the 1870's).

Tree-trunk planters (and umbrella stands) were also popular with English potters in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-centuries. I don't believe the planter, that I discovered, is an English example; although, English forms also undoubtedly provided some American potters a means of inspiration for this diverse form.

Late-19th Century Molded Stoneware Tree-Trunk Planter Made in Bangor, Maine

Made at the Bangor Stoneware Company

Circa 1880-1914

Dr. Charles E. Burden Collection

Photo Courtesy: Maine State Museum - Augusta, ME

The following map shows the location of Searsport, Maine in relationship to Bangor, Maine. As you can see, it is not a very-far distance, even for people, who worked in the 1800's. Coastal Maine was also a location for a variety of imported goods from elsewhere in New England (and America) and across the world in the nineteenth-century.

Map Shows Searsport, ME and Bangor, ME

There is About a 30-Mile Distance Separating the Two Communities

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