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

Monday, September 26, 2016

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