Sewer tile workers at companies in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania in the nineteenth-century are known for this kind of folk art today where they would produce unique or personalized objects in their downtime for any number of reasons. I had suggested yesterday that this must have been done at the Portland Stoneware Company, too; however, any surviving examples of this kind of output are likely associated or attributed to another state today because the Portland Stoneware Company is not in the mainstream of today's sewer tile products. It's too easy to say (today) that any given sewer tile object was produced in the midwest or the Mid-Atlantic regions (because most of it was). Instead, I would like to suggest that this kind of individual production must have happened in Portland, Maine, as well.
In some of my upcoming reports, I plane to write about the collection of red earthenware that is owned by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. While researching, the museum's catalog, I came across this salt-glazed sewer tile dog that is suggested (by the MFA) to be a doorstop made in the 1850-1900 period. It was gifted to the museum in 1973 by a friend of the Americana department. The museum also says that this dog was made in New England. I can not prove whether this dog was made in Portland, but if it is a New England-made product, like the museum suggests, then there is a chance it was made at the Portland Stoneware Company considering this business was also one of the largest suppliers of sewer tile in New England before 1900.
It should be important to note that not all of these kind of products were whimsical, either. Some of the sewer tile objects were actually how companies in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania expanded their product lines to increase revenue for the business. This also happened in Portland, but I don't believe all of those attempts (forms) have been documented today.
For example, the Charles A. Lawrence Pottery (circa 1866-1906) in Beverly, Massachusetts even contracted with the Portland manufacturer to sell sewer tile in Beverly, which Lawrence advertised as "the best sewer tile made anywhere in New England." The Portland company actually sold sewer tile across New England in this manner in the 1800's. They often sold large wholesale orders to other potters and retailers, who then sold sewer pipe in their surrounding areas. In fact, there's a good chance that when broken pieces of salt-glazed sewer tile are found on rivers or on the beach - and, on constructions sites in Maine, coastal New Hampshire and north of Boston that it was likely produced in Portland.
Again, I can not say specifically if this dog was made in Portland; however, I would like to believe that these kind of whimsical or 'end-of-the-day' objects were not only made in places like Ohio and Pennsylvania in the 1800's, but they were also produced by the employees at the Portland Stoneware Company in Portland, Maine in the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries.
19th Century Salt-Glazed Sewer Tile Dog Doorstop
The Museum Says this Dog was Made in New England
Circa 1850-1900
Stands 11" Tall
Gifted to the Museum in 1973
Photo Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts - Boston, Mass.
Another View of the Dog Doorstop
Photo Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts - Boston, Mass.
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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