EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A 19th Century Red Earthenware Pot or Bowl Discovered Today in Southern Maine that is Possibly Tied to New Jersey or Philadelphia Before 1850

Saturday, June 11, 2016

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Pot or Bowl Discovered Today in Southern Maine that is Possibly Tied to New Jersey or Philadelphia Before 1850

Earlier today, I was picking for pottery in southern Maine, and I discovered a press-molded red earthenware pot or bowl that is similar to a group of known press-molded red earthenware teapots attributed to New Jersey before 1825, and elsewhere, in places such as Philadelphia before 1850. I believe this object could be a sugar bowl; although, it is undoubtedly an example of nineteenth-century tableware.

The lid is especially interesting seeing that the finial or knob broke; however, the owner decided not to discard of it, and instead, opted to have the lid repaired with a make-do finial or knob.

According to Susan H. Myers book, 'Handcraft to Industry: Philadelphia Ceramics in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century,' "Dark-glazed tableware, especially teapots, were made in America in far greater quantity than previously has been recognized. This production was also just not limited to Philadelphia, either during and after the War of 1812

'BLACK TEA POTS at Auction 10 crates Jersey Teapots' were advertised in Hartford, Connecticut in 1816. These could have been made at the Elizabethtown (New Jersey) teapot manufactory of Peter Lacour and Son, which was offered for sale in 1818.

Peter Lacour and Peter Lacour, Jr., appear in the tax records for Elizabethtown from 1811 through 1815, but are not included in the next two lists in 1820 and 1822; presumably, they left the town after their manufactory closed.

Another Elizabethtown potter, John Griffith, was operating a teapot manufactory in the 1820's. A press-molded black-glazed teapot in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery is stamped with the name of this potter who died in 1824 leaving $5,465.40 worth of teapots on hand.

The 1820 Census of Manufacturers notes that a Baltimore, Maryland potter was making 'Brown & Black Coffee & Teapots, Round and pressed, Pressed on them Hunting parties, and other figures.'

In Boston, 'thirty crates black glazed TEA POTS' of 'American Manufacture' were offered for sale in 1812. These may have been from Philadelphia or New Jersey. However, Sanford S. Perry and Thomas Crafts were making black-glazed teapots in Whately, Massachusetts by the early 1820's."

Note: Sanford S. Perry produced black-glazed teapots in Boston prior to his employment in Whately, Massachusetts.