EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Late-19th or Early-20th Century Object that Recently Appeared at an Antique Shop with its Original Label

Thursday, November 10, 2016

A Late-19th or Early-20th Century Object that Recently Appeared at an Antique Shop with its Original Label

The other day, I visited an antique shop along coastal New England, where I was surprised to see a late-nineteenth or early-twentieth-century wooden birdcage, which included the original stoneware water cup (see below, back left corner). In recent years, I have also heard of these type of birdcages referred to as a "miner's birdcage."

According to the United States Department of Labor, "For centuries, miners have brought canary birds down into their mines to warn them of potential disaster. If a tunnel or shaft collapsed or was blocked, thereby diminishing the oxygen supply, the canary would be the first to react, usually die, alerting the miners to trouble and to immediately vacate the mine."

Every now and again, I see these type of stoneware water cups removed from the birdcage for sale in shops, at flea markets, in box lots at auctions, etc. I have also seen these type of objects discovered at archaeological sites, as-well-as removed from nineteenth and early-twentieth-century privies (trash pits) found at various locations in America.

Historic New England even owns a nineteenth-century red earthenware "miner's" birdcage feeding dish, which was made by John Bell (1800-1880) in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania (see below). The small object is stamped with Bell's mark, and it is a part of the Nina Fletcher Little Collection at Cogswell's Grant in Essex, Massachusetts.

However, it is somewhat rare today to find a "miner's" birdcage that still retains its original feeder or water cup. Nonetheless, it is even rarer to find a "miner's" birdcage, which still retains its original label from a retailer in Boston; although, that was the case with the birdcage that I recently saw at Brentwood Antiques in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.

The label reads, "Established 1883 / Lang Bros. Bird Store / Importers and Dealers / Parrots, Canaries & All Supplies / Selected Boston Terriers and / French Bulls at Stud & For Sale / 11 Portland St., Boston, Mass / Telephone 3095-J Haymarket."

I also question whether these type of birdcages should all be called a "miner's birdcage" since I think the birdcage that I saw in the antique shop may have instead been used by the store in order for a customer to transport a bird home. Afterwards, the bird may have been moved into a larger birdcage.

Presumably, this birdcage and its stoneware water cup must have been manufactured during the circa 1883-1920 period, as-a-result of the 1921 Boston City Directory, where the name of the company had changed to 'Lang Bros. Birds & Animals Store.'

Note: I have also shown a similar birdcage and its stoneware water cup, which were found a few years ago at Todd's Farm Flea Market in Rowley, Massachusetts. It is possible that this birdcage was originally sold by a similar pet store in New England in the late-nineteenth or early-twentieth-century. Additionally, I have shown a stoneware water cup that had been removed from its birdcage, which was also found at Todd's Farm Flea Market in 2015.

Birdcage with Original Label with Ties to Boston