EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: 19th Century Red Earthenware Jars Made in Western New York During the Circa 1801-1860 Period

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

19th Century Red Earthenware Jars Made in Western New York During the Circa 1801-1860 Period

An incredible nineteenth-century slip-decorated red earthenware jar likely made at the Nathaniel Rochester (died 1831) Pottery in Ontario County, New York appeared last week at one of the antique shows in Brimfield, Massachusetts. Personally, I have never seen a larger slip-decorated object attributed to the Rochester Pottery before - and, it was not surprising, either that the jar was quickly purchased by a prominent New York red earthenware collector before the show began. The jar was purchased from a dealer, who had brought the jar from his personal collection to sell in Brimfield.

Everything about this jar appeared museum-quality (to me) - its size, form and color were all impressive. My jaw dropped when I saw it after it had already been purchased. Simply, it was a spectacular object.

I did not look at the jar, too closely, but there was an obvious characteristic about the jar that really surprised me; that characteristic was the lack of a pronounced foot. A large exaggerated foot or a rounded foot are styles that many of the Rochester Pottery jars are known for today; however, this object seemed to be missing that distinctive foot at the base.

Instantly, the idea behind the foot made me wonder about a jar that I had purchased the day before in Brimfield from Delaware antiques dealer, John Chaski. John was not positive, but he thought he may have purchased the jar at an auction in upstate New York less than ten-years ago. He said that he had just removed the jar from his storage-area for Brimfield.

Initially, I thought the jar was a western New York-made product that appeared to share some similarities with objects that are tied to the Rochester Pottery today. Although, the fact that it was made without a foot led me to believe that it was made at another western New York pottery. However, my curiosity got the better of me the next day when I saw that rare slip-decorated jar, and how its base was manufactured.

Nonetheless, I soon began to research my new jar, and I realized that Winterthur in Wilmington Delaware owns a jar decorated like a Rochester Pottery jar in its collection. Their jar does not have a foot, either. The form of Winterthur's jar is nearly exact to mine with the only difference being the more-detailed handles on the jar that I bought.

I still was not convinced that my jar was related to the Rochester Pottery, and I also became curious to know if the jar owned by Winterthur was a mid-nineteenth-century product possibly made at another potter's business in western New York that is not documented for its use of slip today.

I should also mention that Winterthur attributes their jar to Pennsylvania, but I completely disagree with this attribution. It is common to find these type of slip-decorated western New York jars in museums, auctions, and even in early publications attributed to Pennsylvania today. I believe the attribution is the result of the slip-decoration, which was a type of decoration that was likely applied more in Pennsylvania than any other state in the nineteenth-century.

Note: The style of the slip-decoration found on the jar owned by Winterthur appears to be related to how the application of slip is described in an archaeology report cited below - the report discusses the technique at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery.

Shown below are three different base-styles that may have been incorporated on jars at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery.

No Foot at the Base
Winterthur, Delaware

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made in Western New York

Possibly Made at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery - Rochester, NY

However, I am Also Curious Whether this is the Product of Another Western New York Potter

Circa 1818-1860

Stands 12 7/8" Tall

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Acquired by Wintertur in 1965

Photo Courtesy: Winterthur - Wilmington, DE

According to an article written in 1980 by George R. Hammell for 'Northeast Historical Archaeology,' "Slip-decorated red earthenware was produced in western New York from circa 1773-1850. Trailed slip-decoration upon wheel thrown-pans and deep dishes, upon a few hollow wares and upon drape-molded, coggle-rimmed plates were found at both the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery site, circa 1818-1831 - and, the Wheeler Griffin-Alvin Wilcox Pottery site in West Bloomfield, New York, circa 1801-1830. There is limited archaeological evidence that similar wares were produced at other earthenware potteries in this region during the same period.

Usually this trailed-slip-decoration was done in white slip only (appearing yellow through the glaze). However, several sherds pertaining to wheel-thrown pans and deep dishes, and to a few hollow wares have been decorated in both white and dark brown-black, or white and green trailed-slip.

Numerous fragments of drape-molded coggle-rimmed plates were also found at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery site, which had been decorated in marbleized or joggled white slip. These plates are similar in both form and technique of decoration to 18th century wares produced in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, England and France. A few of the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery examples had the marbleized white slip dusted with specks of copper green.

Fragments of two plain rim, drape-molded plates and a bulbous pot or jar and a cover from such a pot or jar were found at the site of the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery. The plates were decorated on their interiors, and the pot or jar and cover were decorated on their exteriors with white slip, manganese black and copper green dripped/splashed onto the clay body of the wares or into their glaze."

Note: There are no known (or documented) surviving Rochester Pottery slip-decorated red earthenware plates in existence today. The only evidence is the group of sherds that were recovered at the site; although, Robesonia, Pennsylvania potter, Lester Breinger (1935-2011) did use these sherds as inspiration to re-create these types of plates in the 1970's.

20th Century Marble Slip-Decorated Plate by Lester Breininger - Robesonia, PA

Re-Created from the Sherds Recovered at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery

Circa 1976

Measures 11 1/2" Tall by 17" Wide

Photo Courtesy: eBay

Small Rounded Foot at the Base

Northeast Historical Archaeology

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made in Western New York

Likely Made at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery - Rochester, NY

Circa 1818-1840

Stands 9" Tall

Bernard B. Hillman Collection - Wyckoff, NJ

Photo Courtesy: Northeast Historical Archaeology

Pook and Pook, Pennsylvania

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made in Western New York

Likely Made at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery - Rochester, NY

Circa 1818-1840

Stands 9" Tall

Bernard B. Hillman Collection - Wyckoff, NJ

Photo Courtesy: Pook and Pook Auctions - Downington, PA

Cottone Auctions, New York

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made in Western New York

Likely Made at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery - Rochester, NY

Circa 1818-1840

Stands 9 1/2" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Cottone Auctions - Geneseo, NY

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made in Western New York

Likely Made at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery - Rochester, NY

Circa 1818-1840

Stands 9" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Cottone Auctions - Geneseo, NY

Exaggerated Foot at the Base

Rare Green-Glazed Jar

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made in Western New York

Likely Made at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery - Rochester, NY

Circa 1818-1840

Stands 9 3/4" Tall

Another View of the Jar

View of the Handle

Heavily Slip-Decorated Jar

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made in Western New York

Likely Made at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery - Rochester, NY

Circa 1818-1840

Stands 9" Tall

Note: This Jar is Currently For Sale

Photo Courtesy: Samuel Herrup Antiques - Sheffield, Mass.

Another View of the Jar

Photo Courtesy: Samuel Herrup Antiques - Sheffield, Mass.

View of the Handle

Photo Courtesy: Samuel Herrup Antiques - Sheffield, Mass.

However, further research revealed a match to the jar that I found in Brimfield, which also included the more-detailed handles - that jar is pictured in William C. Ketchum, Jr.'s book, 'American Redware.' Ketchum describes the pot as a "...Redware cream pot with an opaque white glaze and cobalt blue decoration attributed to Lorenzo Johnson, Erie County, New York, circa 1850-1860."

Also according to Ketchum, "Lorenzo Johnson (active circa 1848-1880) created a pseudo-stoneware by covering redware bodies with an opaque white glaze upon which he applied cobalt decoration in the manner of stoneware decorators. The technique is an old and honorable one not unlike that employed for the delftware made in both Holland and England; but its use to mimic stoneware is extremely uncommon in the United States. Johnson was employed in Newstead in Erie County, New York, but he also spent part of his career in Ontario, Canada, where white, tin-based glazes were frequently applied to redware."

Now, with all this said ; Could the jar owned by Winterthur be related to Lorenzo Johnson? Then, would that make Johnson an undocumented red earthenware potter, who occasionally applied slip decoration after 1850 in western New York? It appears to me that Winterthur's jar may be influenced by Nathaniel Rochester in decoration, but it could also be influenced by Lorenzo Johnson in form.

William Ketchum, Jr. Jar