EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Very 'Rare' Maine Made Vase that was Recently Acquired with a Terrific History

Sunday, September 25, 2016

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.