EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Rare 19th Century Red Earthenware Jug that Recently Sold at a New England Antique Show

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

A Rare 19th Century Red Earthenware Jug that Recently Sold at a New England Antique Show

There is a nineteenth-century red earthenware jug, which some people may recognize from a few recent antique shows in New England. This jug first appeared last month at a Nan Gurley Antique Show in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where it was said to have been found in Connecticut. However, it was recently purchased by a New Hampshire collector at another New England antique show.

My initial reaction when I handled this jug was that it may have been made in the potter's industry in North Yarmouth, Maine. That idea was based on the form, the handle and the crawling in the glaze, which are all styles that were produced in North Yarmouth in the 1800's. The form also reminded me about a few known North Yarmouth-made jars that survive today.

But there was also a rare characteristic about this jug, which made it special, where a stamp had been applied at the bottom terminal on the handle. This is normally where a finger impression would be found from where a potter pressed the base of the handle up against the object; although, here it appears that the potter may have substituted a stamp in that process.

This stamp appears like a snowflake, and it should be noted that a similar snowflake stamp was also applied on some red earthenware, which was made at the Safford family pottery in Monmouth, Maine in the nineteenth-century.

The Maine State Museum in Augusta, Maine acquired a red earthenware jar in 1984 that was stamped with six similar snowflakes, but it was also impressed with the potter's mark, 'John Safford 2d,' which stands for John Safford II. However, I am not convinced that the snowflake stamp that was used on the jug (see below) is the same snowflake stamp that was used on the jar (see below).

Maine Red Earthenware Jar