The sherds were found in Westbrook, Maine, which is a neighboring community located directly to the west of Portland. Those sherds were the partial remains of a slip decorated red earthenware dish that was dated in slip '1770.' The dish also appeared to possess an illegible inscription, also written in slip. Unfortunately, the words are difficult to read since so much of the bowl is missing.
I had suggested that this bowl could have been made at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company (circa 1766-1799) in Newburyport, Massachusetts or at the potter's industry in Charlestown, Massachusetts. However, that was mostly speculation based on the manner of the slip and the form of the bowl. I had also suggested that it may have been produced by a local potter, but there are not any potters, who worked with slip in 1770 known in this part of Maine today.
Personally, I feel this bowl was imported from a potter's business located to the south of Portland (i.e. Portsmouth, NH, Newburyport, MA, Peabody, MA, Charlestown, MA, etc.). Although, the likeliest scenario seems to point towards Newburyport and Charlestown.
Interestingly, another slip decorated sherd has emerged from what was already discovered in Westbrook. Matthew Anson took a closer look at what he had already discovered last week and he also found the following sherd, which is also potentially important. This sherd is what's left of a chamber pot.
The style of the slip on this sherd appears very-similar to the manner in which the slip was applied at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport. The slip was applied by-hand with a wide brush or tool in a wavy pattern. This exact technique is not really seen with sherds that represent the Charlestown industry today, which are owned by the Boston Archaeology Department in West Roxbury, Massachusetts; although, I don't want to rule out the idea of a Charlestown potter as a possible maker for the dated pan, yet. I'm not convinced, either way.
I should note, too that the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company is known to have exported red earthenware in the 1700's. There is archaeological evidence that supports this claim - for example, a red earthenware chamber pot was uncovered in an eighteenth century privy at the Narbonne House in Salem, Massachusetts within a circa 1770 context. The National Parks Service's archaeology report attributes this object to the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company (see below).
Another example: A slip decorated red earthenware pan, which is also strongly attributed to the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company was found during archaeological excavations in the 1950s at Portland Point near Saint John, New Brunswick, also in a circa 1770 context (see below). The manner of the slip on this pan is also similar to what is seen on the sherd of discussion.
Pottery from Daniel Bayley's company has also been recovered in various eighteenth century contexts in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Below, I have shown all of the objects that are discussed above as-well-as some slip decorated sherds that were excavated at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company site in Newburyport by Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) in the 1930s. These sherds are owned today by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
Note: Maine did not become an independent state until the nineteenth-century; whereas, it was included with Massachusetts in the 1700s - and, as a result, it is understandable that Massachusetts-made products occasionally traveled north in the eighteenth-century to supply demands generated by military forts, newly established communities, maritime cities and merchants.
Sherd Recovered in Westbrook, ME
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
Below, I have shown all of the objects that are discussed above as-well-as some slip decorated sherds that were excavated at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company site in Newburyport by Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) in the 1930s. These sherds are owned today by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
Note: Maine did not become an independent state until the nineteenth-century; whereas, it was included with Massachusetts in the 1700s - and, as a result, it is understandable that Massachusetts-made products occasionally traveled north in the eighteenth-century to supply demands generated by military forts, newly established communities, maritime cities and merchants.
Sherd Recovered in Westbrook, ME
18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Sherd Recovered in Westbrook, ME
Westbrook, ME is Located Next to Portland, ME
The Slip is Similar to Some of the Objects Pictured Below Attributed to Newburyport, Mass.
Circa 1770's
Photo Courtesy: Matthew Anson - Portland, ME
View of the Sherd's Interior
Photo Courtesy: Matthew Anson - Portland, ME
Sherds Collected at the Daniely Bayley Site
18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Sherds Found in Newbury(port), MA
Uncovered by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company
Ca. 1766-1799
Photo Courtesy: Lura Woodside Watkins, Early New England Potters and Their Wares
18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Sherds Found in Newbury(port), MA
Uncovered by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company
Ca. 1766-1799
Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C
18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Sherds Found in Newbury(port), MA
Uncovered by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company
Ca. 1766-1799
Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C
Chamber Pot Recovered in Salem, Mass.
18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Salem, Mass.
Uncovered in a Circa 1770 Context (Privy) at the Narbonne House in Salem, Mass.
Reportedly Made at the Daniel Bayley Pottery in Newburyport, Mass.
Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services, Narbonne House - Salem, Mass.
Pan Recovered in New Brunswick
Daniel Bayley Pottery Co. Attributed Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish - Newburyport, MA
Recovered in Saint John, NB in the Mid-1950's
Stands 3 1/8" Tall
Recovered in Saint John, NB in the Mid-1950's
Stands 3 1/8" Tall
Measures 14 1/8" in Diameter
Ca. Late 1760's or Early 1770's
Photo Courtesy: Peter Larocque, New Brunswick Museum - Saint John, NB
Ca. Late 1760's or Early 1770's
Photo Courtesy: Peter Larocque, New Brunswick Museum - Saint John, NB
Note: For a history of this site - I have reposted the description that Matthew Anson provided to me a few weeks ago (some information has been removed for the protection of this site):
"My interest in Portland area history comes after discovering a collection of colonial era artifacts in Westbrook, Maine. I began to inspect this area two years ago. I became interested in the area several years before when a new parking lot was constructed and I was able to collect some old bottles. The lot, at one time, had been the site of the Frost-Brewer House, a public house and inn from the 1730's to the 1880's.
"My interest in Portland area history comes after discovering a collection of colonial era artifacts in Westbrook, Maine. I began to inspect this area two years ago. I became interested in the area several years before when a new parking lot was constructed and I was able to collect some old bottles. The lot, at one time, had been the site of the Frost-Brewer House, a public house and inn from the 1730's to the 1880's.
One of the first really interesting artifacts that I found was an eighteenth century silver knee buckle. The owner's monogram, 'W.S.' is found on the back. I believe this belt buckle belonged to William Slemons or his son, William Slemons, Jr. The buckle was found on the land that belonged to William Slemons during the second half of the eighteenth century - this is also the period when the buckle would have been worn and lost.
William Slemons' family made their fortune in the mast trade cutting down mast pines and transporting them to the landing at the Stroudwater River in Westbrook, which led to Portland.
By the middle of the 1700's, William Slemons was the only man living in Westbrook with the initials "W. S." who would have been wealthy enough to wear silver buckles. (Note: The idea that the buckle belonged to William Slemons or his son is not guaranteed, but I'd say more likely than not it did.)
This past spring, I continued to focus on this area in Westbrook, but at a different location. I found 15 English copper pennies and farthings; the latest date on the coins was 1749. The oldest coins are two William III half pennies minted between 1694 and 1701. There was a lot of eighteenth century material; an iron horse tack, a very old brass saddle pommel, 3 or 4 pewter rat-tailed spoons, pewter buttons, etc. I quickly stopped digging in fear of ruining this historic resource and that's when I contacted the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.
I emailed photos of my finds to the Maine State Archaeologist, Leith Smith. Leith is the head of historic archaeology for the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. He came out with me for a day this past summer and I showed him the site along with the artifacts that I had recovered.
According to Myrtle Lovejoy's book, 'This Was Stroudwater,' Nathaniel Knight and his brother, Westbrook Knight ran a Mill on the Stroudwater river. Nathaniel had horses, as there are records of him selling Colonel Thomas Westbrook a horse. Horse ownership was not common at the time, and an eighteenth-century horse tack was found at the site.
Nathaniel Knight's house was located at the site that I was investigating in Westbrook before it burned in 1746 or 1747 by Native Americans during King George's War; I think the violence was intensified by conflict over the disruption of spawning fisheries by the mills and their dams. Knight returned and rebuilt after the conflict.
Nathaniel Knight's original hand written ledger survives at the Maine Historic Society's Library in Portland. There are almost no entries between 1746 and 1750.
Lovejoy writes that Nathaniel Knight died on the property in the 1780's. I found evidence of a post 1740's occupancy on this property with a broken piece of slip decorated red earthenware with the date "1770" written in slip."
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