The three shows that I am referring to are the Annual Columbus Day Weekend Glass Show & Tailgate in Coventry, Connecticut, the Annual Yankee Bottle Club Show in Keene, New Hampshire - and, one of my personal favorite antique shows, the Antique Dealers Association Antiques Show at Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. The Deerfield show also offers free admission to the Flynt Center of Early New England Life, which showcases some of the most spectacular examples of early American-made objects that rival any national museum. It's really a wonderful weekend. This year, I am going to try my best to attend the Historic Deerfield and Keene shows.
I've never attended the Coventry glass show before; however, I did visit the Keene bottle show last year, where I found a nineteenth-century slip decorated red earthenware colander. After I attended the show - I wrote an article about my visit to Keene, but I did not make any mention of the colander. I've been saving this object until I could present some accurate information about its history and origin.
Bottle and glass shows tend to be nearly exclusive to glass, but there are instances, where red earthenware, stoneware, advertising - and, additional sometimes extraneous antiques make their way into these types of shows. Basically, you never know what may turn up if you don't attend to check out the show for yourself.
The dealer, who I purchased the colander from told me he had recently found it in an attic in western New York. The story made sense in comparison to where I thought the colander was manufactured in the 1800's. On first sight, I felt the colander was probably made in Pennsylvania in the nineteenth-century; however, I now feel this colander was made elsewhere in a region that was influenced by the Pennsylvania potters in the 1800's.
I've searched through a number of past auction results, read through a few of the better reference books, studied some of the better-known museum collections (i.e. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian and Museum of Fine Arts in Boston) and it seems that American-made red earthenware colanders decorated in some manner of slip are rare to find today. It's a form that wasn't regularly included with every potter's output. Actually, far from it. I might say that most American potters did not regularly manufacture the form.
To begin, this following colander is owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It is attributed to the potter John Nice, who worked in Upper Salford Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in the nineteenth-century. The museum suggests a production date of 1830-1850. The reason that I am showing this colander is the result of some characteristics that can be compared to the colander that I bought in Keene last year. The rim, the slip decoration, and the overall form are comparable; although, the colander that I bought at the Keene Bottle Show is also footed, with two handles and it is entirely glazed. None-the-less, you will probably see how this product could be related to the rest of the products shown in this report, which probably represent a Pennsylvania-German influence.
Colander Owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art
19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Colander Attributed to Montgomery County, PA
Circa 1830-1850
Stands 5 1/4" Tall
Measures 13 3/8" Long
Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art - Philadelphia, PA
19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Colander Possibly Made in Ontario
Circa 1840-1870
Stands 4 3/4" Tall
Measures 12" Across
Purchased at the 2014 Keene, NH Bottle Show
Recently Found in an Attic in Western New York
View of the Base
View of One of the Handles
The Port Dover, Ontario-based auctioneer, Jim Anderson sold a very-similar (nearly identical) colander on Saturday October 19, 2013 in Elora, Ontario as part of the Albright Collection (lot number 140) of Canadian-made objects. This colander is basically the same form, with the same footed base - and, it is also entirely glazed; although, the handles do vary from the style seen on the colander that I purchased in Keene. The auctioneer (and, probably the Albrights) attributed the colander to the potters in Waterloo County, Ontario in the nineteenth-century. It should also be noted that I assume Ontario-made colanders are equally as rare today as American-made examples. They may even be rarer in respect to the production level in Ontario versus places like Pennsylvania in the nineteenth-century.
I know there are some readers, who have an interest in what certain objects realize at auction - this colander sold for $747.50 (including buyer's premium) in Canadian currency in October of 2013.
Colander Sold in Ontario in 2013
19th Century Red Earthenware Colander Attributed to Waterloo County, Ontario
Circa 1840-1870
Appears to be Around 11" to 13" in Diameter
Sold in 2013 as Part of the Albright Collection in Elora, ON
Photo Courtesy: Jim Anderson Auctions - Port Dover, ON
With that said, I now believe the colander that I found at the Keene Bottle Show could be a related product to the colander that sold in Ontario in 2013. I also want to mention that this colander does not appear to have traveled very-far from where it may have been originally produced in Waterloo County seeing that it was found just over the Canadian border in western New York.
Map Showing Distance Between Waterloo County, ON and Western New York
Photo Courtesy: Google Maps
Colander Found in an Attic in Western New York
(Bought at the 2014 Keene, New Hampshire Bottle Show)
Circa 1840-1870
Stands 4 3/4" Tall
Measures 12" Across
Purchased at the 2014 Keene, NH Bottle Show
Recently Found in an Attic in Western New York
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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