The Peabody Essex Museum has been a pioneer in the acquisition, relocation, restoration and interpretation of historic environments. In 1865, the museum reconstructed the Quaker Meeting House from beams thought to be original to the first church. In 1910, under the direction of curator and early preservationist, George Francis Dow, the museum moved the John Ward House - split in two and rolled on ox-drawn logs - from its original site three blocks away. In 1911, that house opened to the public, becoming the first outdoor museum of architecture in the country. Since then, the Peabody Essex Museum has grown to include more than twenty pre-Civil War buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks and many properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places."
The following heavily incised red earthenware crock was discovered, by the museum, in one of the pre-Civil War buildings that it owns in Salem near where the museum's main building stands today. I believe this is a late-eighteenth-century locally produced product, partially based on the incising, which was predominantly popular with Essex County, Massachusetts potters during the 1700's rather than during the 1800's. However, the form also suggests an eighteenth-century potter, too - and, I'll explain why.
Basically, this is a very-rare object to see today. I've never seen anything else like it before. It may be a lone survivor. The handles are what really stood out to me as unusual for New England-made pottery in terms of 'what' is known about this region today.
I have studied the entire red earthenware collection that the museum owns - and, this object, has always remained with me as an extremely unusual Massachusetts-made form. It's even more intriguing knowing that this crock also likely possessed a lid based on the rest area located just inside the interior of the rim.
Late-18th Century Red Earthenware Pot Likely Produced in Essex County, Mass.
The Rare Incised Decoration is Wonderful
Circa 1770-1790's
Stands Approximately 12" Tall
Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Mass.
Another View of the Pot
Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Mass.
Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Mass.
View of One of the Handles
Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Mass.
Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Mass.
Closer View of One of the Handles
Closer View of the Incised Decoration
Closer View of the Incised Decoration
Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Mass.
View of the Base
Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Mass.
Lyon, France archaeologist (and, author), Alban Horry emailed me a group of images, this week, that show a number of similar formed objects that are kept in his archaeology collection in France. I was shocked when this comparison was made - if you compare the Peabody Essex Museum's crock to some of these objects - you should be able to notice a similar form, with nearly identical handles and decorated with an exterior glaze that only covers part of the object. These are all characteristics that can be seen on the pot that the museum owns.
Alban told me that all of his objects were recovered in Lyon (about 285 miles south of Paris, France) in a mid-to-late eighteenth-century archaeological context. This fascinates me seeing that the later context is when I believe the Peabody Essex Museum's crock was manufactured.
Honestly, this is a first for me - I have never seen an Essex County-produced product that apparently imitated a known French form before. This is unbelievable! The more I make the comparison - the more I am convinced that there is undoubtedly a connection.
18th Century Earthenware Uncovered in Lyon, France
The Decorations Are Wonderful
Circa After 1750
These Forms are Very-Similar to the Object Owned by the Peabody Essex Museum
Photo Courtesy: Alban Horry - Lyon, France
More Related Pots
Photo Courtesy: Alban Horry - Lyon, France
More Related Pots
Photo Courtesy: Alban Horry - Lyon, France
I believe my recent studies in Salem, Massachusetts may also reveal another example of locally produced pottery that was French-influenced, which I didn't realize until this week. This example was discovered at the Narbonne House.
For a brief history: the Narbonne House was built near Salem's waterfront around 1675 - the home's context has always remained with a middle-class ownership and/or occupancy from circa 1675 through the mid-twentieth century. The home has been the residence of many local artisans and skilled craftsman. The property is now owned by the National Parks Services - and, when archaeology was carefully conducted on the property - archaeologists found a group of eighteenth and nineteenth century privies. As part of the ceramic collection were red earthenware crocks, jars and pots believed to be the output of local potters from the eighteenth and early-nineteenth-centuries.
Within the ceramic collection, there is a chamber pot with a very-unusual splattered slip decoration similar to what is seen on some of the pots shown from France above. The chamber pot was found in a circa 1770 context aside other locally produced red earthenware chamber pots decorated in slip. It is described as having a "red-blown glaze interior and exterior with a splattered slip decoration." This pot is seen to the far left in the photo directly below.
(Left) Chamber Pot that Demonstrates a Similar Spattered Slip to the French Objects Above
Circa 1770
Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services Archaeology Department - Narbonne House - Salem, Ma
Narbonne House - Salem, Mass.
Located 2 Blocks from Salem's Original Waterfront
Located 2 Blocks from Salem's Original Waterfront
Circa 1675
Now, look closely at this pitcher - I purchased it at a Carl R. Nordblom auction in Cambridge, Massachusetts five-or-six years ago. It was described as an eighteenth-century American-made red earthenware pitcher by the auctioneer. The auctioneer told me that this pitcher came with a history of ownership in Massachusetts, which I have always felt it was produced in Essex County; although, it is definitely a rarity to find today.
I have handled the chamber pot sherd that was discussed above - and, the following pitcher and that chamber pot share a related splattered slip decoration. As already indicated, this splattered slip decoration is also seen on some of the objects that were recovered in Lyon around the same period. I also believe that this pitcher dates from the same period as the crock that the Peabody Essex Museum owns.
Essex County employed a huge number of potters during the late-eighteenth-century. Apparently, there was at least one potter or potter's business, who seems to have imitated French pottery - that interpretation is based on the crock, which the museum owns.
The chamber pot recovered at the Narbonne House and the crock that the museum own were both found in Salem. In theory - could there have been a Salem-based potter (or, another locally-based potter), who may have imitated French earthenware that was unloaded at the docks in Salem. I've heard of Massachusetts potters imitating English and German products during the seventeenth and eighteenth-centuries; however, I have not seen any French imitation within any of the archaeological collections that I have studied. This is potentially a first (for me). Admittedly, I am fascinated with this potential subject.
There is another question that I will ask: could there have been a French-trained migrant potter, who was employed in Essex County, Massachusetts during the second-half of the eighteenth-century? And, is this why some of the objects seem to be inspired after French forms and French decoration. If true - I don't believe this potter has been identified, yet.
Personally, I feel the crock, which is owned by the Peabody Essex Museum is absolutely revealing in terms of a possible French relationship. I also find it captivating how the objects from Alban's collection potentially tie in the chamber pot from the Narbonne House, the pitcher that I own and the museum's crock. This has the potential to be very-exciting!
Late-18th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher Likely Produced in Essex County, Mass.
Decoration is Very-Similar to Decoration Seen on a Chamber Pot Recovered in Salem, Mass.
Decoration is Also Similar to Some of the Decoration Seen on the Pots from Lyon, France
Decoration is Very-Similar to Decoration Seen on a Chamber Pot Recovered in Salem, Mass.
Decoration is Also Similar to Some of the Decoration Seen on the Pots from Lyon, France
Circa 1770-1790's
Stands 11 1/8" Tall
View of the Handle
View of the Base
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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