A Rare Pennsylvania Form: The 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Onion Planter

To my knowledge: a nineteenth-century red earthenware onion planter is an extremely rare form to find today. The only examples, which I am aware of are owned by Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Pennsylvania. Both examples are profusely decorated in slip-decoration.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art attributes their example to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, circa 1820-1840. It was reportedly acquired by Edwin Atlee Barber (1851-1916) in 1893. Barber was an archaeologist and an author, who was also a ceramics curator at the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art; although, the museum is known today as the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Historic Deerfield's pot retains an old note from the early-twentieth-century, which says the object may have been made in Telford, Pennsylvania in the early-nineteenth-century. Telford is a borough in Bucks County and Montgomery County, which is about forty-miles northeast of Philadelphia.

According to Historic Deerfield, "This pot or planter would have been filled with dirt and onion bulbs or flowers would have grown out of the holes. One possible use is for onions; as a spout of an onion pushed through the holes, they could be clipped for cooking."

Note: The big production difference found in these two objects is the fact that the planter owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art sits on a base; while the planter owned by Historic Deerfield was manufactured with a saucer, which is similar to a saucer that would have been attached to a flower pot. The saucer would have used to catch excess water as it drained from the planter.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Early-19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Onion Planter

Attributed to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Circa 1820-1840

Stands 8 5/8" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art - Philadelphia, PA

Historic Deerfield

Early-19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Onion Planter

Attributed to Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Circa 1800-1840

Stands 8 3/4" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Historic Deerfield - Deerfield, Mass.

Another View of the Planter

Photo Courtesy: Historic Deerfield - Deerfield, Mass.

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