The Talented 19th Century Red Earthenware Potters Who Operated in Western New York

Last week, I visited a prominent red earthenware collection in western New York - it was an impressive collection, and it was also one of the few collections that  I am aware of today that focuses exclusively on a distinct region.

Truthfully, the wares made in western New York (and Ontario, too) are as impressive as any other region in the nineteenth-century with skillfully produced forms and a variety of glazes that are recognized today. However, the wares made in western New York are regularly misinterpreted as products made in places like Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont today.

Unfortunately, western New York products are often attributed to Maine today since they are regularly decorated in what is sometimes termed 'a Maine-glaze.' This is an inaccurate way of developing an attribution - it is almost always about the form, and usually never about the glaze. Potters could have decorated red earthenware in any glaze they wished.

In my opinion, this idea of thinking could easily be reversed, and it could be termed 'a western New York-type of glaze.' 

I know it is controversial to say, but (in some ways) northern New England gets too much credit today since some of the rarer and more colorful products made in western New York are often given a blanket attribution of 'it was made in Maine (or elsewhere in northern New England).' This way of thinking should change - the incredibly talented potters, who were employed in western New York in the 1800's deserve more credit on a national level today.

Even if your interest is only New England-made red earthenware or Pennsylvania-made red earthenware or even Virginia-made red earthenware - it is worth studying the wares made in every region (including Canadian products) to get an accurate understanding of what was actually made in each region.  This will help gain a better understanding with the area that a collector (or a dealer) wishes to focus.

Western New York is a region that needs to be recognized in the same way that red earthenware potters in places like Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Maine are viewed today.

Note: The western New York stoneware potters are well-recognized today, such as the Burger family, who worked in Rochester, New York in the 1800's. The cobalt decoration that was applied on products that bear the Burger family name is often viewed as some of the most skillfully decorated stoneware known from American potters today. The western New York red earthenware potters were equally talented as they were employed among their stoneware counterparts.

Here is a sample of some of the wares made at four of the better-known red earthenware potteries in western New York. However, there were many more potteries in western New York - and, production styles also overlapped making an exact attribution to a specific potter's business difficult today.

Ontario County, New York Pottery

These Objects Share Characteristics Found at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery

Erie County, New York Pottery

These Products All Share Characteristics Found With Products Made In Erie County, New York

It Is Possible That All Of These Objects Were Made By Lorenzo Johnson

Morganville, New York Pottery

These Objects Share Characteristics With Products That Were Made In Morganville, New York

These Objects May Have Been Made By Charles Gleason in Morganville, New York

West Bloomfield, New York Pottery

These Objects Share Characteristics With Products That Were Made in West Bloomfield, New York

The Jar To The Far Right Is Stamped 'Alvin Wilcox / West Bloomfield'

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