EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Few Pieces of Important New York State Red Earthenware that Sold Today at Hyde Park Country Auctions in Poughkeepsie, New York

Saturday, January 9, 2016

A Few Pieces of Important New York State Red Earthenware that Sold Today at Hyde Park Country Auctions in Poughkeepsie, New York

Earlier today, Hyde Park Country Auctions in Poughkeepsie, New York sold the stoneware collection that I had written about this week. The collection was highlighted by a marvelous rare example of stoneware produced at the Luman Norton Pottery in Bennington, Vermont during the circa 1823 to 1833 period. The jug was decorated with a beautiful incised flower and a pair of incised birds - it sold for $10,000 at the podium today (not including sales tax or the buyer's premium).

There were also two red earthenware lots in this sale that are worth mentioning - these objects were produced in Central New York State in the nineteenth-century. They were both consigned along with the bulk of the nearly fifty-piece stoneware collection, which came from a private Dutchess County, New York collector.

The following red earthenware objects were arguably the rarest objects in this collection - no matter, whether it was an example of redware or stoneware.

This first lot was made up of a matching pair of objects, which were attributed to David Mandeville, a potter employed in Circlevile, New York before 1840. Honestly, if I were to approach either of these in a shop my first impression may be that they were made by an Eastern European potter in the nineteenth-century - that feeling would probably be based on the color of the glaze and the manner that the slip decoration was applied; however, the twisted rope handles and this type of glaze decoration is a style that a certain Central New York potter is known for today.

Note: Each jar should have two twisted rope handles, but each jar is missing one of its handles.

According to William C. Ketchum, Jr.'s book, "Potters and Potteries of New York States, 1650-1900," At Circleville (NY), a few miles northwest of Scotchtown on the present Route 302, there was a somewhat larger manufactory. Sarah E. Wilkinson, an elderly resident, described this pottery to E.M. Ruttenber and L.H. Clark when they were compiling their 'History of Orange County,' which was published in 1881. Mrs. Wilkinson noted that during her childhood there was 'no business carried on except a pottery which was erected by David Mandeville and was operated by him for many years. He first appeared as a potter in the Orange County (NY) census in 1810.

Mandeville is said to have worked in Connecticut, and extent examples from his hand bear this out. There are at least five bulbous covered jars with rope-twist handles which can be attributed to him, and it seems that this distinctly Connecticut River Valley form was the one he preferred as a presentation or gift piece, which is represented in the personalized examples with this characteristic that have survived today.

Mandeville and his sons, who are also believed to have been potters, continued to appear in the Orange County census through 1840, but by that time the shop had burned and been rebuilt twice. Shortly after 1840 the family moved to Waverly, Massachusetts."

I own a red earthenware jar that may be related to this family's production in Waverly - I will try and write about this object next week.

The following jars suffered quite a bit of damage years ago; however, due to the rarity and beautiful glaze - they sold for $1,600 today before the sales tax and buyer's premium were added to the final hammer price.

Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Jars Attributed to David Mandeville - Circleville, NY

Circa 1810-1820

Sold for $1,600 Plus Sales Tax and Buyer's Premium Today

Photo Courtesy: Hyde Park Country Auctions - Poughkeepsie, NY

View of Some of the Decoration

Photo Courtesy: Hyde Park Country Auctions - Poughkeepsie, NY

View of One of the Twisted Rope Handles

Photo Courtesy: Hyde Park Country Auctions - Poughkeepsie, NY

View of the Bases

Photo Courtesy: Hyde Park Country Auctions - Poughkeepsie, NY

I was interested in this next object since this jar bear's the mark of a potter that is rarely seen today. The jar is marked, 'N. JUDD, ROME.'

Also according to William C. Ketchum, Jr.s book, 'Early Potters and Potteries of New York State, 1650-1900,' "In 1811, the craftsmen Norman L. Judd, a Connecticut potter by birth, left Burlington, Vermont, and the cinders of a pottery he had built there two years earlier for 'the West,' which at that time was the virtual wilderness being settled along the upper reaches of the Mohawk River in central New York. Previously, he had apprenticed under his uncle, Captain John Norton of Connecticut and Vermont.

Daniel E. Wager's 'History of Rome' refers to a 'pottery that operated as early as 1813 and near which was a pottery house for the potter to reside in.' These buildings, located on a lane or alley running out of what was then James Street east of Washington, were undoubtedly Norman Judd's shop and home.

In 1817 his shop and all its contents burned to the ground. So great was the demand for his products that the works were promptly rebuilt, and on a larger scale. The business continued to thrive through the 1820's and 1830's.

At some point Judd must have begun to feel the pinch of stoneware competition, for historians maintain that he too began to manufacture the more durable ware. It must have been a late and limited venture, however, because the only marked example of which I am aware is an almost straight-sided jug with simple blue floral decoration which is impressed 'JUDD.'

In 1850 Norman Judd, then seventy-years old, was listed as a potter in the local census; and in 1853 he wrote to Sylvester Judd, a relative and the author of 'Thomas Judd and His Descendants,' he told him that he was still alive after fifty-years in the pottery business. The old craftsmen was still alive in 1856, but nothing further is known of his shop. No redware from his hand has as yet been identified."

This red earthenware jar obviously changes the history of what is known about this potter today since this object is stamped by Norman Judd's mark, 'N. JUDD, ROME.' This object has been privately owned for a long time, but its whereabouts was apparently never made available for Ketchum's book. I'm not familiar with Judd's work today beyond what I have read; however, this could be the first red earthenware object (marked or unmarked) properly attributed to Judd's output in Central New York today. I'm assuming it stayed with a local collector when it sold for $850 at the podium today before the sales tax and buyer's premium were added to the hammer price.

Curiously, I wonder if a museum bought it.