A Rare 19th Century Red Earthenware Object Attributed to Warren County, Ohio

Earlier this year, Ohio potters, Greg and Mary Shooner presented their research about the red earthenware potters, who were located in Warren County, Ohio in the nineteenth-century. They spoke about this subject at Historic Eastfield Village's annual ceramic conference in Nassau, New York. Surprisingly, I have seen these type of objects mistaken for wares made in Maine and Pennsylvania; although, I have also seen Warren County red earthenware generically attributed to New England, as well.

The improper attributions seem to be a result of some of the Warren County forms appearing like utilitarian products made by other potters. Understandably, there is an overlap that happens with many American styles - and, the Warren County wares are also usually decorated with simple black and brown glazes that could have been applied at any potter's business. The red earthenware from this area was also sporadically glazed on the base.

The Warren County red earthenware that survives today has also been found to have been regularly inscribed with a number on the base. The numbers are said to be generally tied to a client or a merchant, but there are other interpretations, too.

Nonetheless, I was also surprised to learn that a remarkable type of garden ware was also produced in Warren County in the late-nineteenth-century. The Shooners brought a few examples with them that were decorated with incredible slip glazes. They said there are only a few known objects that survive today, which are linked to this type of production.

Coincidentally, I recently saw the following wonderful Warren County red earthenware garden urn in the home of Robesonia, Pennsylvania antiques dealer, Greg Kramer. He was using it to hold a house plant - this is also likely how this object was originally intended to be used. Greg said he purchased it somewhere in Pennsylvania or Ohio. But he said that he could not remember exactly where it was purchased; although, he said it was something that he bought many years ago.

Note: Interestingly, the Union Village Shaker community in Warren County, Ohio is the only known Shaker community, which produced pottery as a source of profit in the nineteenth-century. There is known red earthenware and stoneware tied to other Shaker communities today, but that pottery is attributed to local potter's businesses.

According to the Warren County Historical Society, "In 2005 excavations began in the area near the entrance of Armco Park in Lebanon, Ohio. This is where the structures of the North Family Lot of Union Village once stood. Due to the historical significance of the site, an archaeological project was required, and many examples of locally produced pottery were discovered." 

Here is a link to the archaeology report that was submitted to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Warren County, Ohio Garden Urn

19th Century Red Earthenware Garden Urn

Attributed to Warren County, Ohio

Circa 1880

Stands Approximately 15" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Greg Kramer - Robesonian, PA

View of the Base

Photo Courtesy: Greg Kramer - Robesonian, PA

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

A Potential Potter's Mark that May have Been Used at the Safford Pottery in Monmouth, Maine

I recently noticed a potential maker's mark that may have been used by the Safford family on red earthenware products, which were produced in Monmouth, Maine in the ninetenth-century. This possible maker's mark is seen on the exteriors of the following objects.

Initially, I thought both of these jars may have been marked with the number '11,' however, that seems redundant since these objects are also numbered on the base. The numbered bases were likely used to match the jars with a matching numbered lid. The lids were typically fired in a different area in the kiln - and, the numbers were used to match each lid with the proper object when the kiln was unloaded after a firing.

Try to imagine stacking a kiln, at which point the larger objects have been carefully positioned on the bottom, and the smaller objects are carefully stacked on top. Normally, (I assume) the lids would not have been fired in the same area in the kiln as were these jars.

An idea has also been suggested in the past, where it was said that most lids were manufactured to be a generic size that fit a certain formed object - but I have not found that to be the case with any lidded object, which I have ever handled that was made in New England

Similar subtle marks were used by some nineteenth-century stoneware potters in the Edgefield-area in South Carolina; although, I do not believe there is any direct relationship. But I do find the marks on the following jars intriguing while trying to decipher what they potentially mean. I should also mention that these are undoubtedly intentional marks.

I assume that these marks could be a potter's mark, but this may have also been a way to mark a certain group of objects, which were purchased by a particular client or a merchant.

Jar Number One

 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Attributed to the Safford Pottery - Monmouth, ME

Stands 9" Tall

Circa 1840-1860

 View of the Slash Marks

Jar Number Two

 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Attributed to the Safford Pottery - Monmouth, ME

Stands 6 1/8" Tall

Circa 1840-1860

View of the Slash Marks

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

A Collection of Objects Once Owned by Peter Clark in Lyndeborough, New Hampshire

At this year's 'Antiques Week in New Hampshire,' I met Jamie Franklin, who is a curator at the Bennington Museum in Bennington, Vermont. He told me that he had read my latest article in the 'New England Antiques Journal,' which examined, Peter Clark, an eighteenth and nineteenth-century red earthenware potter from Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He said the Bennington Museum owns a collection of objects, which are directly linked to Clark's life around the American Revolution in Lyndeborough, New Hampshire.

The fact that these objects have been preserved by the museum is remarkable; the items include objects that were actually owned by Clark, such as a candlestand, a sword and a candle snuffer. However, the collection also includes a red earthenware jar that the museum acquired in 1958, which was made by Clark - and, an actual Queen Anne-style chair that was also made by Clark.

I think it's incredible to learn that Clark apparently also had the ability to manufacture quality country-style furniture. Although, this probably helps support an idea, which I implied a few weeks ago, where I suggested that the more talented nineteenth-century American stoneware decorators had the ability to create other forms of folk art, as well. Curiously, I wondered how many of these decorators may have experimented in other fields.

This chair is proof that Clark likely also created some country-style furniture in his spare time. The quality of this chair easily suggests that this could not have been the only piece of furniture that Clark created. But Clark also owned a store in Lyndeborough - and, as a result, I guess it is also possible that he may have sold furniture, which he also created. Unfortunately, this production seems like it is mostly forgotten today.

Note: Here is a link to the Peter Clark article, which I wrote for the August 2016 edition of the 'New England Antiques Journal.'

Here is also a link to the article, where I discussed the idea of stoneware decorators and what else they may have produced in the 1800's.

I also apologize for the quality of these photos, but these are the only images that I currently have access to use from the museum.

-- THE BENNINGTON MUSEUM'S PETER CLARK COLLECTION --

Red Earthenware Jar
"This jar shares certain features with others made by Peter Clark, including straight and wavy incised bandings and a yellow-green glaze with yellow spots and brown streaks. The yellow spots are the results of mineral impurities in the clay, in this case, iron, which melted during firing, coloring the surrounding clay."

18th Century Red Earthenware Jar Attributed to Peter Clark - Lyndeborough, NH

Acquired in 1958

Circa 1775-1800

Stands 8" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Bennington Museum - Bennington, VT

Brass Candle Snuffer
"This scissor shaped brass candle snuffer was used and owned by Captain Peter Clark of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire in the eighteenth-century."

18th Century Brass Candle Snuffer Owned by Peter Clark - Lyndeborough, NH

Photo Courtesy: Bennington Museum - Bennington, VT

Peter Clark Letter
"This two-page letter was written by Captain Peter Clark of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire to his wife and family describing the Battle of Bennington, which he recently participated under General John Stark. The letter is dated August 18, 1777."

Letter Written by Peter Clark Describing the Battle at Bennington

Page 1

 Photo Courtesy: Bennington Museum - Bennington, VT

Letter Written by Peter Clark Describing the Battle at Bennington

Page 2

 Photo Courtesy: Bennington Museum - Bennington, VT

Peter Clark Letter
"This handwritten letter was written by Captain Peter Clark on October 3, 1778 - the letter was written to Captain Chase Taylor of Sanborntown, New Hampshire demanding payment for gun and other articles used and lost in the Battle of Bennington."

Letter Written by Peter Clark Demanding Payment for the Battle at Bennington

Photo Courtesy: Bennington Museum - Bennington, VT

Sword
"This sword was owned by Captain Peter Clark, and it may have been used at the Battle of Bennington on August 16, 1777."

18th Century Sword Owned by Captain Peter Clark - Lyndeborough, NH

Sword was Possibly Used at the Battle at Bennington on August 16, 1777

Measures 28 1/2" Long

Photo Courtesy: Bennington Museum - Bennington, VT

 Another View of the Sword

Photo Courtesy: Bennington Museum - Bennington, VT

Candlestand

"This eighteenth-century brass and iron candlestand was owned and used by Captain Peter Clark of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire in the eighteenth-century."

18th Century Candlestand Owned and Used by Peter Clark - Lyndeborough, NH

Stands 55" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Bennington Museum - Bennington, VT

Chair

"This chair is said to be Captain Peter Clark's rural interpretation of the Queen Anne style, made of maple with a rush seat. It was reportedly made by Clark in Lyndeborough, New Hampshire."

18th Century Queen Ann Style Chair Made by Peter Clark - Lyndeborough, NH

Circa 1775-1800

Stands 38 1/2" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Bennington Museum - Bennington, VT

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

The History Behind a Late-18th Century Philadelphia-Made Red Earthenware Dish that is Owned by Historic New England

A few days ago, I wrote about a late-eighteenth-century Philadelphia-made slip decorated red earthenware dish that the Peabody Essex Museum owns in Salem, Massachusetts. The dish also retains a strong history of ownership in Salem, which dates back to the early-1800's.

I had written that it was surprising that such an object would appear in Salem in an early context of ownership, and that idea was based on the amount of red earthenware potters, who were employed in Essex County, Massachusetts during the period. But it was also a possibility that some Philadelphia red earthenware may have been occasionally shipped to Salem, where a merchant could have sold the pottery on the notion that it was "Made in Philadelphia." 

Philadelphia was perceived as a leader in ceramic production in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries, and, as-a-result, there was a demand for Philadelphia-made pottery, which extended far beyond the Philadelphia market. Archaeological evidence supports the idea that Philadelphia-made red earthenware was shipped to places, such as North Carolina, Virginia, Baltimore, Maryland, elsewhere in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Albany, New York, Long Island, New York City and Boston.

An advertisement that ran in the 'Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury' on June 22, 1767 likely explains how Philadelphia pottery was viewed in New England, and elsewhere in America in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries: "Joseph Wilson - potter at the North End of Providence Informs the Public that he can Supply them with Earthen Ware at a Cheap Rate, made in the best Manner and Glazed in the Same Way as Practised in Philadelphia - All Persons in this Town may be regularly supplied by Means of the Boats which constantly pass between this Place and Providence."

Nonetheless, Historic New England also owns a Philadelphia-made red earthenware dish that was manufactured during the same period as was the dish, which is owned by the Peabody Essex Museum.

Historic New England acquired their dish in 1918 from William Sumner Appleton (1874-1947), a graduate of Harvard University, who also founded the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities in 1910, which is known today as Historic New England.

The entire history of this dish is not know; however, I would assume that this is an object that Appleton likely found in Massachusetts in the late-1800's. He seemed to have had a reason why he kept certain objects in the course of the museum's early years.

The museum also operates on the concept today that objects, which are kept should retain a New England history of ownership or a strong provenance. I believe this is a vision that began with Appleton in 1910, and it likely pertains to the following Philadelphia dish, as well.

According to Historic New England, "William Sumner Appleton originally founded the museum as a random assortment of old things (found locally), which gradually took shape as a systematic, documented collection of furnishings and fine and decorative arts, as houses with their contents intact entered the collection."

Note: Here is a link to an article that I wrote about a wonderful Philadelphia-made red earthenware dish, which was discovered in a circa 1780-1820 archaeological context in Albany, New York.

Here is also a link to the story that I wrote last week, which discussed the Philadelphia-made dish that is owned by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. This dish is also shown below, again today.

Dish Owned by Historic New England

Late-18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish Attributed to Philadelphia

Likely Retains a 19th Century History of Ownership in Massachusetts

Donated by the Museum's Founder, William Sumner Appleton

Estimated 16" Long

Circa 1780-1810

Photo Courtesy: Historic New England

Another View of the Dish

Photo Courtesy: Historic New England

Dish Owned by Peabody Essex Museum

  Late-18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish Attributed to Philadelphia

Retains a 19th Century History of Ownership in Salem, Mass.

Estimated 14" in Diameter

Circa 1780-1810

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Mass.

  View of the Slip Decoration

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Mass.

  Another View of the Slip Decoration

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Mass.

View of the Back

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Mass.

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

A 17th or 18th Century Earthenware Jar that was Discovered in an Old Barn in Upstate New York

On May 13, 2014, I discovered a large heavy earthenware jar in Brimfield, Massachusetts, which was said to have been recently discovered in a nineteenth-century barn in upstate New York. Since then, the jar has sat in my house without any identification; however, I recently learned that this jar was likely made in southern France.

This object is probably related to a similar style of jar that is often today called a 'Biot Jarre' or 'Jarre de Biot,' as-a-result of the production of such a form in Biot, France. Biot is a small village that has been known for its production of pottery dating back to as-early-as the Roman Period. The jar that I bought was likely made as-early-as the late-seventeenth century.

I would also assume that this jar is likely tied to the French emigrants, who settled in North America in the eighteenth-century. The contents that this jar originally held may have been something that was exported to America or Canada.

This type of jar served a similar purpose as did the Spanish Iberian storage jars from the seventeenth and eighteenth-centuries (which I have recently written about), where both type of jars would have likely been used for food storage and transportation.

Although, the French jars were reportedly first used for the transportation of flour, but they were also eventually used for the transportation of olives, which happened with the expansion of olive oil production in the 1700s.

There are also similar formed jars from southern France that survive today that were marked with a trade seal, which was likely used to identify what the jar (originally) held.

According to Biot's Office of Travel and Tourism, "These jars were an important production in Biot from the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. The jars were entirely hand-made according to a demanding process that required several years of apprenticeship.

The potter, who specialized in making these jars had only two little spatulas, a flat one named in local dialect "esteco" and a curved one named "escaire." The inside part of the jars were also glazed.

Once the jars were shaped and glazed, the jars were then put in a kiln on clay supports, where the larger jars were placed at the bottom and the smallest ones on top. The kiln was then closed. The cooking lasted for three days during which the temperature was gradually risen to 800-880 degrees Celsius. 

Those jars made on a large scale were exported throughout France, to cities like Antibes, Marseille, Genoa, and all throughout the Mediterranean. Some were even exported to the Americas and India."

Note: The larger jars were often re-purposed in Europe in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-centuries when the form became popular in gardens. Accordingly, this is also the period when many traditional utilitarian potter's began to focus on the production of garden wares in America.

Jar Found in Upstate New York

 17th/18th Century Earthenware Jar Likely Made in Southern France
May Have Been Made in Biot, France
Proper Terminology May Suggest this Jar is Called a 'Biot Jarre' or 'Jarre de Biot'

Reportedly Found in a Barn in Upstate New York in 2014
Circa 1680-1780

Weighs 32 Pounds

Stands 20" Tall
Photo Was Taken in 2014 When My Nephew, Jason was 10 Years Old

 View of the Rim

View of the Interior Glaze

Jars from Biot, France

18th Century Earthenware Storage Jars Made in Biot, France

These Type of Jars are Called 'Biot Jarres' or 'Jarre de Biot'

Photo Courtesy: Biot, France Office of Travel and Tourism

18th Century Earthenware Storage Jars Made in Biot, France

These Type of Jars are Called 'Biot Jarres' or 'Jarre de Biot'

Photo Courtesy: Biot, France Office of Travel and Tourism

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

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Bird Bottle Owned by the Little Compton Historical Society in Rhode Island

In November 2014, I suggested that I may have purchased a nineteenth or early-twentieth-century red earthenware bird bottle, which may have been made in southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod or somewhere in that vicinity. A friend had recently purchased the bird bottle from an old estate on Cape Cod in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Here is a link to that article.

However, I was definitely surprised last week when I saw a nineteenth-century red earthenware bird bottle during a visit to the Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society. The museum's bird bottle also retains a history of ownership in the Little Compton area, which may defend my argument that this form was produced in southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod or somewhere in the vicinity in the 1800's.

According to the Little Compton Historical Society, "The nineteenth-century bird bottle measures 8 1/4" inches in height, and it is decorated with incised lines around the upper portion of the body."

Incredibly, there are similarities between the two bird bottles; although, there are also obvious differences, as well. But the fact that both of these objects were made with a footed base and a similar glaze may suggest they are related; although, the historical society's bird bottle also appears like it could be from an earlier manufacture date.

Little Compton Historical Society Bird Bottle

 19th Century Red Earthenware Bird Bottle

Possibly Made in Southeastern Massachusetts or Cape Cod

Circa 1800-1900

Stands 8 1/4" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

 Another View of the Bird Bottle

Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

 View of the Interior

Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

View of the Back

Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

Bird Bottle Found on Cape Cod

 19th/20th Century Red Earthenware Bird Bottle

Reportedly Found in an Estate on Cape Cod in Barnstable, MA

Stands 8 3/4" Tall

 Another View of the Bird Bottle

 View of the Interior

 View of the Back

View of the Footed Base

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

A Very-Rare Late-18th Century Slip-Decorated Bowl from Connecticut that is Owned by the Little Compton Historical Society in Rhode Island

In the winter of 2002, the American Folk Art Museum in New York City published a wonderful article, which highlighted the early work of Nathaniel Seymour, an important eighteenth and nineteenth-century potter from West Hartford, Connecticut. The article not only told Seymour's story, but it also displayed a small group of Seymour's rarer slip-decorated red earthenware that survives today.

According to the American Folk Art Museum, "There was a saying, "There's no mud like West Hartford mud." Its gluey clay stuck fast to boots, shoes and stockings. West Hartford's first settler, Stephen Hosmer complained about the knee deep mire (mud). Hosmer settled in the West Division, as it was then called, in the year 1679. His observation about the characteristic quality about this abundant local resource, though an annoyance to some, was surely recognized and capitalized upon. 

This led to the establishment of at least two potteries in the late eighteenth century and as many as five by the mid-nineteenth century. This is a significant number considering the small geographic area that is West Hartford. 

Ebenezer Faxon established the first (known) pottery in the area, on the south road, in the year 1770. Faxon was followed by Nathaniel Seymour, who built his kiln about 1790. Seymour was thoroughly convinced that from Connecticut's clay alone pottery could be made as good as any in the world. Seymour also produced stoneware, but his earliest production consisted of slip decorated red earthenware."

Last week, I saw an extremely rare (and possibly a lone survivor) late-eighteenth century red earthenware bowl that was made by Nathaniel Seymour when I visited the Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society. The bowl also retained a local history of ownership, which leads me to believe that Seymour's red earthenware (and stoneware) may have found its way into Rhode Island in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Nevertheless, I have written in the past that I felt Rhode Island was a hotbed for red earthenware and stoneware, which would have been exported by utilitarian potter's located in southeastern Massachusetts and Connecticut as-early-as the 1700's. This interpretation is a result of the few known potter's, who actually maintained a shop in Rhode Island. This idea would have basically created a business opportunity for potter's to capitalize on the demand for household pottery, which was made in the states that bordered Rhode Island.

Little Compton, RI Historical Society Bowl

 Late-18th Century Red Earthenware Bowl

Attributed to Nathaniel Seymour, West Hartford, CT

Retains a Local History of Ownership in Rhode Island

Circa 1790-1810

Stands Approximately 3 1/2" Tall

Measures About 6 1/2" in Diameter

Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

View of the Interior

Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

American Folk Art Museum Article

 Nathaniel Seymour Article Published in Winter 2002/2003

Pages 1-2

Courtesy: American Folk Art Museum - New York City

  Nathaniel Seymour Article Published in Winter 2002/2003

Pages 3-4

Courtesy: American Folk Art Museum - New York City

  Nathaniel Seymour Article Published in Winter 2002/2003

Pages 4-5

Courtesy: American Folk Art Museum - New York City

 Nathaniel Seymour Article Published in Winter 2002/2003

Page 6

Courtesy: American Folk Art Museum - New York City

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

A Very 'Rare' Maine Made Vase that was Recently Acquired with a Terrific History

This is another object that I recently acquired from a friend of mine, David Hillier, which has an incredible history in Maine. In my opinion, this is also one of the rarest forms of nineteenth-century Maine-made red earthenware to exist today. I have never seen another object from Maine before, which was decorated with a crimped rim and twisted handles. Although, the basic form of this object is also comparable to a group of known jars that exist today that are attributed to the potter's industry in North Yarmouth, Maine.

It's also appealing where the twisted handles have taken on different glaze colors as a reaction from when they were fired in the potter's kiln.  Remarkably, this object survives in incredible condition today with only some slight wear around the delicate rim.

This vase is special since it retains two old notes that were written in pencil almost one-hundred years ago. The first note reads, "Flower vase - has unusual pie crust rim." The second note reads, "Found by Mrs. Cummings and Mrs. Richs / Livermore Falls (Maine) / Bought August 22, 1927."

Note: I will be studying a collection of red earthenware and sherds owned by the North Yarmouth Historical Society later this month for an article I plan to write for publication in 2017. This is a potter's industry that very little is known about today. However, it is also arguably Maine's largest red earthenware potter's industry, which is responsible for many unidentified objects that survive today.

 Vase with the Two Hand Written Notes

 19th Century Red Earthenware Vase Possibly Made in North Yarmouth, Maine

Found in Livermore Falls, Maine in 1927

Stands 5 1/4" Tall

Circa 1840-1860

 Another View of the Vase

 View of One Twisted Handle

View of the Other Twisted Handle

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

A Wonderful 'Rare' Bowl that was Likely Made in Philadelphia in the Late-18th or Early-19th Century

This is another object that I also acquired from a friend today in central Massachusetts, which was likely made in Philadelphia, circa 1770-1815. This type of object has been discussed in Ceramics in America, as well as other publications. I have personally seen sherds from related objects, which were uncovered at Franklin Court in Philadelphia, but similar bowls have also been recovered in places such as Baltimore, Maryland.

To my knowledge: this is a rare object to find today outside of a privy or an archaeological context.

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Bowl Likely Made in Philadelphia

Circa 1770-1815

Stands 3" Tall

Measures 6 1/8" in Diameter

 Another View of the Bowl

Another View of the Bowl

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

An 18th Century Slip-Decorated Bowl that was Likely Made in Pennsylvania

I will discuss this object in detail on a later date; however, I wanted to show this wonderful slip-decorated red earthenware bowl, which I acquired from a friend today in central Massachusetts.  I believe this bowl is probably a late-eighteenth-century object likely made in Pennsylvania, but it also appears like it may have a Moravian influence, as well.

The feature that will likely properly attribute this bowl to a specific area is the slip-design that was applied in the center, which appears like a tree, a fern or some type of flower. This design was completely applied by hand.

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Slip-Decorated Bowl Likely Made in Pennsylvania
The Bowl Appears to Have a Moravian Influence

Circa 1770-1810

Stands 4 7/8" Tall

Measures 13 1/8" in Diameter

Another View of the Bowl

The Interior Slip-Design Appears Like a Tree, a Fern or Some Type of Flower

View of the Back

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