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

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

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