A Collection of Southeastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Owned by the Little Compton Historical Society in Rhode Island

Yesterday, I visited the Little Compton Historical Society in Rhode Island in order to view and study a large collection of red earthenware, which the museum owns. This collection is special since many of the objects were collected in the 1950s and 1960s based on a local history of ownership found in the southeastern corner of Rhode Island.

My focus was the types of wares that would have been made in southeastern Massachusetts during the circa 1765-1820 period; however, they would have been exported to the Little Compton area, where it appears that Rhode Island was a hotbed for products from Connecticut and southeastern Massachusetts in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

This is what I found: a large collection of southeastern Massachusetts pottery, which included jars, jugs, pitchers, a flower pot saucer, a tea bowl and a slip-decorated pan. Many of these objects are traditional forms commonly attributed to southeastern Massachusetts today, where a potter's industry was located to the west of New Bedford, Massachusetts. But this also helps confirm that the potters from this industry probably targeted the New Bedford and Rhode Island markets in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Interestingly, I have also included a small collection of red earthenware sherds, which were recovered within a circa 1790-1820 archaeological context at an eighteenth-century estate in Glocester, Rhode Island. Glocester is located in the northwestern section of Rhode Island. These sherds are also from objects, which were made at the potter's industry in southeastern Massachusetts.

Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society
Jars

Southeastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Jar

Circa 1780-1820

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

 Southeastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Jar

Circa 1780-1820

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

Southeastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Jar

Circa 1780-1820

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

Southeastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Jar

Circa 1780-1820

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

Jugs

 Southeastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Jug

Circa 1780-1820

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

Southeastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Jug

Circa 1780-1820

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

Flower Pot Saucer

Red Earthenware Flower Pot Saucer

Attributed to Barnstable, MA on Cape Cod

Circa 1780-1820

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

Tea Bowl

 Southeastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Tea Bowl

Circa 1765-1795

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

View of the Base

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

Pan

Southeastern Massachusetts Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish or Pan

Circa 1765-1795

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

Pitchers

 Southeastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Pitcher

Circa 1780-1820

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

View of the Handle

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

  Southeastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Pitcher

Circa 1780-1820

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

View of the Handle

 Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

Sherds Recovered in Gloucester, RI
Circa 1790-1820 Context

Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Sherd Recovered in Glocester, RI

 Recovered at an Estate in Glocester, RI

Recovered in a Circa 1790-1820 Archaeological Context

 Photo Courtesy: PAL Archaeology - Pawtucket, RI

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Sherds Recovered in Glocester, RI

  Recovered at an Estate in Glocester, RI

Recovered in a Circa 1790-1820 Archaeological Context

 Photo Courtesy: PAL Archaeology - Pawtucket, RI

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Sherd Recovered in Glouester, RI

 Recovered at an Estate in Glocester, RI

Recovered in a Circa 1790-1820 Archaeological Context

 Photo Courtesy: PAL Archaeology - Pawtucket, RI

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Sherd Recovered in Glocester, RI

 Recovered at an Estate in Glocester, RI

Recovered in a Circa 1790-1820 Archaeological Context

 Photo Courtesy: PAL Archaeology - Pawtucket, RI

Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Sherd Recovered in Glocester, RI

  Recovered at an Estate in Glocester, RI

Recovered in a Circa 1790-1820 Archaeological Context

 Photo Courtesy: PAL Archaeology - Pawtucket, RI

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