A Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Pot Found at a Church Fair in Newburyport, Massachusetts

My father found the following red earthenware pot at a church fair in Newburyport, Massachusetts last weekend - he was told that it was included in a large group of donations that came from a local home. However, no other information about the home was provided.

The pot does have significant wear, and glaze loss, but it is interesting to me to see the slip-decoration that is seen near the handle. It appears like the slip ran down the side of the pot to the bottom of the base.

To my knowledge: the only potters in Essex County, Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, who applied slip-decoration were those who were employed in the region before 1800.

I have never seen this exact form from an Essex County potter; although the clay color, the glaze color and the color of the slip-decoration does compare to artifacts that were recovered in the 1930's by Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins at the site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, circa 1766-1799. However, this pot does not appear refined enough (to me) to be a product from the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company.

Nevertheless, there were a large number of eighteenth-century potters located to the north of Boston, along with the New Hampshire seacoast, who are not well documented today. It is assumed (or known) that some of these potters likely incorporated slip-decoration into some of their regular output in the 1700's.

The following list includes some of the documented eighteenth-century potters in northeastern Massachusetts today; however, there were many more potters from this time period employed in Beverly, Massachusetts, Danvers, Massachusetts, Gloucester, Massachusetts, Ipswich, Massachusetts, Peabody, Massachusetts and Salem, Massachusetts.

Note: The reason I chose these potters is a result of their close location to Newburyport.

Haverhill, Massachusetts

Abraham Annis - (Newbury and Haverhill) -1708-1767

John West (Haverhill/Bradford, MA) - Active Before 1781

Merrimacport, Massachusetts

Benjamin Bodge - Active Before 1790

Newbury, Massachusetts

Abraham Annis - (Newbury and Haverhill) - 1708-1767

Newburyport, Massachusetts

Stephen Kent - Active Before 1747/48

Clement Kent - Active Before 1774

Ebenezer Morrison - 1741-1803

Daniel Bayley Sr. - (Newburyport and Gloucester, MA) – 1729-1792

Daniel Bayley Jr. - 1755-1799

Nathaniel Bayley - 1771-1849
William Bayley - 1766-1799

Rowley, Massachusetts

Joseph Bayley – 1701-1761

Appears Like an 18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Pot

Found Last Weekend at a Church Fair in Newburyport, Mass.

Said to Have Been Donated from a Local Home in Newburyport, Mass.

Stands 11" Tall

View of the Handle and Some of the Slip-Decoration

Another View of the Pot

View of the Interior

View of the Base and Some More Slip-Decoration

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...