Rare 19th Century Red Earthenware Vases that Were Produced in Merrimacport, Massachusetts

Nineteenth-century red earthenware vases made before the Arts & Crafts Movement completely took hold in New England are commonly attributed to the utilitarian potters in Vermont and Maine today. However, the Chase Pottery in Merrimacport, Massachusetts was also responsible for a number of red earthenware vases produced before the 1880's. I believe that some of the vases that survive today from this family business could be misinterpreted as an object made elsewhere or the form may also appear mysterious.

A few dozen examples from the utilitarian output at the Chase Pottery can be seen in a glass case in the Merrimac, Massachusetts Town Hall.  There are a few unglazed vases in this display that would probably be attributed to Maine today if it were not for archaeological evidence, and the local provenance that these objects retain.

Last weekend, I was picking in southern Maine, when I came across an unglazed red earthenware vase that is very similar in form to some of the objects that are on display in Merrimac. The dealer did not know what to make of this object; although, he did tell me that he found it locally in southern Maine. I initially felt this vase was probably made in southern Maine or at the Chase Pottery; however, I now feel it is a Merrimacport product since I have compared it to the other vases that are on display in Merrimac. 

I also feel the history about the potteries in Merrimacport are not completely documented today, but Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins did a wonderful job researching this area for her important book, 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares;' "The Little town of Merrimacport or West Amesbury, as it used to be called, was the location of one of the best known and longest lived potteries in Essex County, Massachusetts. The industry began in Amesbury before 1775 by Benjamin Dodge and it was carried on for almost a century first by William Pecker, who was then succeeded by James Chase, Phineas Chase and Richard Chase."

The later production is where I feel the history of the Merrimacport  potter's industry is not well documented today. Also according to Watkins, "The trend towards bric-a-brac may be observed at other redware potteries that were running in the 1870's and the 1880's. In Exeter, New Hampshire, Merrimacport, Massachusetts, Concord, New Hampshire and Keene, New Hampshire, terra-cotta vases, ewers and knickknacks were substituted for the heavy kitchenware of early manufacture."

However, I also believe that the wares made in these areas were not limited to unglazed, and often undecorated products, either like those that are documented in places, such as the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord, New Hampshire and Historic New England's storage facility in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Instead, these potteries (the Chase family) obviously made undecorated products, but I feel that glazes were also still utilized, as were painted objects, as well.

The Chase Pottery in the 1870's and the 1880's was ideally the beginning of how traditional New England utilitarian red earthenware potters began to alter the appearance of their business to cater towards more formal decorative products. This type of change was seen on a larger scale by potters like William J. Walley in West Sterling, Massachusetts, and Thomas Nickerson's Merrimac Ceramic Company and Merrimac Pottery Company in Newburyport, Massachusetts in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-centuries.

I believe that if the Chase Pottery had remained in business into the early-twentieth-century that their output would have altered itself similar to the artware made by Walley and Nickerson in the early-1900's. These simple unglazed vases that are shown below would have been the beginning of that metamorphosis; however, these type of objects are instead, what is left today for the objects that were produced in the final years of Merrimacport's industry.

Note: The Chase Pottery produced a large number of beautifully glazed red earthenware objects from circa 1820-1860. This production was similar to what was happening in places like New Hampshire and Maine during the same period. However, this is a business that is not widely known today, and their products are often attributed elsewhere in New England.

Vase Found in Maine

 19th Century Red Earthenware Vase Found in Southern Maine Last Weekend

Probably Made at the Chase Pottery in Merrimacport, MA

Circa 1870's

Stands 6 7/8" Tall

 View of the Interior

View of the Base

Vases on Display in Merrimac, MA Town Hall

 19th Century Red Earthenware Vase Made at the Chase Pottery in Merrimacport, MA

On Display at Merrimac, MA Town Hall

Circa 1870's

Photo Courtesy: Merrimac, MA Town Hall

 19th Century Red Earthenware Vase Made at the Chase Pottery in Merrimacport, MA

On Display at Merrimac, MA Town Hall

Circa 1870's

Photo Courtesy: Merrimac, MA Town Hall

19th Century Red Earthenware Vase Made at the Chase Pottery in Merrimacport, MA

On Display at Merrimac, MA Town Hall

Circa 1870's

Photo Courtesy: Merrimac, MA Town Hall

I was fortune to visit a private prominent antiques collection in 2015 that is located near where I live in Essex County, Massachusetts - in this collection is a wonderfully glazed red earthenware vase that I had always assumed was made in either Vermont or Maine. It is also important to note that the vase was discovered in Haverhill, Massachusetts, which is a mill city located only a few miles to the west of Merrimacport.

I now believe that this vase was probably made in Merrimacport at the Chase Pottery in the 1860's, the 1870's or the 1880's. That attribution is based on the form of the object, which is comparable to some of the undecorated vases previously discussed. I could easily see this object attributed to Maine or maybe even Vermont today; however, this object is more proof that the wares produced in Merrimacport were a hybrid of wares that were produced by potters in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine during the circa 1790-1880's period.

This vase could also represent the metamorphosis into art pottery that I just described if the Chase Pottery had remained in business into the early-twentieth-century.

Note: Benjamin Dodge's production from circa 1770/1775-1790 is not documented today; although, it may be comparable to what William Pecker produced, circa 1790-1820.

You can search the previous articles on this website and in the New England Antiques Journal for more information about William Pecker and the Chase family.

Found in Haverhill, Massachusetts

 19th Century Red Earthenware Vase

Likely Made at the Chase Pottery in Merrimacport, Mass.

Circa 1860's to 1880's

Found in Haverhill, Mass. Years Ago

Photo Courtesy: Private Massachusetts Collector

 Another View of the Vase

Photo Courtesy: Private Massachusetts Collector

View of the Interior

Photo Courtesy: Private Massachusetts Collector

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