Today, I would like to discuss a business that appeared in Windham, Maine after 1800, which, coincidentally, was located near Gorham, Maine - the location, where the two artifacts from Monday's report were recovered. Windham is located less than fifteen-miles to the northwest of Portland.
Location of Windham, ME in Respect to Portland, ME
Photo Courtesy: Google Maps
According to Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins book, 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares,' "Although the first definite records of a pottery in Windham, Maine began in 1825, it is quite likely that there had been some attempt at making earthenware before the coming of John Goodell in that year. When Joshua Emery left Alfred, Maine in 1805, he went to Windham, where it is possible that he continued in his same trade (potter). Hezekiah Smith (also, a potter) of Gorham also settled in Windham at an even earlier date.
Windham's known potting history, however, begins with the arrival of John Goodell from Kennebunk, Maine. His first shop was on the east side of the river road near its intersection with Horse Beef Road. Traces of his workshop and the cellar of his house could still be seen in 1916 on the farm of the late John Webb. Later, Goodell bought the farm where Isaiah Staples afterwards lived. He erected there a large barn like structure with a workshop at one end and a kiln at the other. The Windham pottery lasted for about twenty-five years, closing when Goodell died in 1850."
After I read this statement by Watkins - I became curious as to the types of wares that were made in Windham since she does not make any specific attributions to the kind of forms that were produced at the Goodell Pottery. The obvious question that came to my mind: What is known about this business today? Honestly, I don't believe there is a lot known. I feel this is one of the businesses that could ultimately benefit from archaeology. None-the-less, it is known today that Goodell did stamp some of his pottery with his name - after that - I don't believe a lot is known.
Here is the only known stamped jar, but I assume he must have stamped others - the base of this jar and the glaze-style is very-similar to most of the jugs in this report.
(Center) 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Stamped 'J. GOODELL' - Windham, ME
Circa 1825-1850
Stands Approximately 7" to 8" Tall
Photo Courtesy: Dr. Mark Chaplin - Maine & Massachusetts
Another View of the Jar and the 'J. GOODELL' Stamp
Photo Courtesy: Dr. Mark Chaplin - Maine & Massachusetts
In 2010, Kelly Young, a recently deceased Texas businessman, who ran a family oil company - sold his lifelong pottery collection through Crocker Farm in Sparks, Maryland. Mr. Young had a terrific taste in regional American red earthenware and stoneware. The focus of his collection stood with fine examples from each major American region. He purchased objects from dealers such as Greg Kramer in Robesonia, Pennsylvania, who shared a common interest with Mr. Young in red earthenware whimsical figures made in Pennsylvania in the nineteenth-century.
There was a jug in the Kelly Young Collection that was obviously made in Maine based on the form - the bottom of that jug read 'By John Goodell of Windham, Maine.' I don't know how this attribution came to be, but it is among the small group of evidence (aside from the few rare stamped examples that are known today) that suggests a product was made in Windham in the nineteenth-century. There is also a jug that reportedly sold through Christie's in New York City in the 1990's that was also identified as a product made in Windham by an old paper label that accompanied the jug - unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that jug to show for a comparison.
19th Century Red Earthenware Jug Possibly Made by John Goodell in Windham, ME
Circa 1825-1850
Stands 6 1/2" Tall
Ex-Kelly Young Collection - Texas
Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm - Sparks, MD
Another View of the Jug
Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm - Sparks, MD
View of the Handle
Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm - Sparks, MD
I was given the following jug as part of my compensation for speaking at Dish Camp in upstate New York in 2013. I spoke about the colonial red earthenware industry that emerged in Charlestown, Massachusetts in the seventeenth and eighteenth-centuries - and, the areas throughout New England that were connected to Charlestown. Don Carpentier gave me this jug, along with a few other pieces of red earthenware, as payment, for my four-hour talk. He told me he found the jug at the antique shows in Brimfield, Massachusetts years before.
If you look closely at this jug - you will see that it exhibits a very-similar form, size, handle, glaze-style, neck and rim when compared to the jug that sold at Crocker Farm in 2010 - that jug was identified as a product that was made by John Goodell in Windham, Maine before 1850. It has been suggested that the following jug may have been made at the Safford Family Pottery in Monmouth, Maine; however, I feel it is more-likely related to southern Maine. Even the handle attachments on this jug are nearly identical to the jug that sold at Crocker Farm. It is my opinion that this jug was likely made at the same potter's business, which produced the jug that sold in 2010 at Crocker Farm.
19th Century Southern Maine Red Earthenware Jug Possibly Made in Windham, ME
Circa 1820-1860
Stands 6 1/2" Tall
Form is Very-Similar to the Jug Shown Above
Another View of the Jug
View of the Handle
The Handle is Very-Similar to the Handle Seen on the Jug Discussed Above
This next jug was found in an early home in Kennebunk, Maine this past summer (the town that Goodell left when he traveled about thirty-five miles north to Windham). It exhibits a number of characteristics that are similar to the jugs that were previously discussed, but there are some differences, too. I know that some of the potter's businesses in southern Maine are known today for producing multiple jug styles in the 1800's - this jug may be another form that was produced at the Goodell Pottery in Windham; however, that statement is only based on the information that accompanied the jug that sold in the Kelly Young sale in Maryland in 2010.
19th Century Southern Maine Red Earthenware Jug
Circa 1820-1860
Stands 6 1/2" Tall
Form is Similar to the Jugs Shown Above
Another View of the Jug
View of the Handle
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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