Two 19th Century Red Earthenware Objects Discovered Today While Picking in Southern Maine

Quickly, I would like to show two nineteenth-century red earthenware objects that I picked in southern Maine today. Neither object was expensive, either. I assume they are both fresh-to-the-market since they were found in vintage-type shops.

This first object is extremely interesting - believe-it-or-not, the following two pictures are from the same jug. The potter decorated this jug with two different glaze-styles - a dark-green-glaze is seen on one side, while the other side is decorated with a light-brown-glaze speckled with green dots. There is also separation in the glaze. All of these glaze characteristics are styles found on objects properly attributed today to the nineteenth-century potter's industry in North Yarmouth, Maine. I would like to believe that this is where this jug was made; although, it is almost certain that it was made somewhere in southern Maine before 1860.

Note: The jug is not over-fired, either. It was the potter's intention to decorate it this way.

 19th Century Red Earthenware Jug Found in Southern Maine Today

Very-Possibly Made in North Yarmouth, ME

The Jug is Decorated with Two-Separate Glaze-Colors

The Dual Glaze is a Characteristic of Red Earthenware Made in North Yarmouth, ME

Circa 1800-1860

Stands 7 1/8" Tall

View of the Other Side of the Jug

I also found this nineteenth-century red earthenware spittoon or cuspidor today, which is decorated with clam shells. Very-similar earthenware spittoons decorated with clam shells were made at the Bennington, Vermont potteries around circa 1850. However, this is a red earthenware product that was probably made in Northern New England or Canada. It is my guess that the objects made in Bennington may have served as inspiration for whomever made this object.

For a comparison: I have shown the red earthenware spittoon, and an earthenware spittoon made in Bennington that Crocker Farm sold in Sparks, Maryland in 2009. The Bennington spittoon is marked, "LYMAN & CO. / 1849." This is how most of the Bennington spittoons appear that are decorated with clam shells. The spittoon that I discovered today appears like it could be a variation or an interpretation of that form.

Red Earthenware Spittoon

 19th Century Red Earthenware Spittoon or Cuspidor Decorated with Clam Shells

Probably Made in Northern New England or Canada

A Similar Earthenware Product was Made in Bennington, VT

Circa 1850

Stands 3 3/8" Tall

Measures 7 1/2" in Diameter

 View of the Interior

View of the Base

Bennington, VT Earthenware Spittoon

19th Century Earthenware Spittoon or Cuspidor Made in Bennington, VT

Marked 'LYMAN & CO. / 1849'

Circa 1849

Stands 2 1/2" Tall

Measures 7 1/2" in Diameter

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm - Sparks, MD

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