EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Important 19th Century Archaeological Evidence Recovered at the Bradford-Parker Pottery in West Barnstable, Massachusetts

Thursday, January 19, 2017

Important 19th Century Archaeological Evidence Recovered at the Bradford-Parker Pottery in West Barnstable, Massachusetts

In 1991, Sagamore, Massachusetts antiques dealer, Brian Cullity published, 'Slipped & Glazed: Regional American Redware' through the Heritage Plantation of Sandwich, Massachusetts. The catalog included a collection of sherds, which had been discovered at the site of the nineteenth-century Bradford-Parker Pottery on Cape Cod in West Barnstable, Massachusetts.

Cullity wrote, "These sherds illustrate some of the forms and decorative techniques used at the West Barnstable Pottery by Noah Bradford and Daniel Parker, Jr. Parker worked for his father-in-law before assuming the operation of the pottery following the death of Bradford in 1832.

Most pieces displayed a clear lead glaze, but a number of them displayed various shades of green, and some manganese black. A surprising number of fragments revealed incised decoration with multiple wavy bands."

Recently, I was given access to the hundreds of red earthenware sherds, wasters, kiln furniture and kiln brick, which were recovered at the site of the Bradford-Parker Pottery in West Barnstable, circa 1819-1854. The artifacts were disturbed when an in-ground swimming pool was installed in the twentieth-century near the site of the original pottery. Fortunately, the home owner granted Brian Cullity permission to inspect the property before any important artifacts were lost forever.

Conclusively, I feel there are a number of objects made by Bradford and Parker that survive today; however, those objects are possibly mistaken for another location or they may be given a generic attribution to New England, Massachusetts or another region/state. I will show some red earthenware in the near future, which I feel could be related to this business.

Evidence Recovered at the Bradford-Parker Pottery in West Barnstable, Mass.
These are some of the key points that I feel should be noted after studying part of the archaeology recovered in West Barnstable, Massachusetts:

1) Green-Glazed Sherds: A small group of red earthenware sherds were recovered, which resemble some of the green-glazes that were also produced in southeastern Massachusetts in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth-centuries. But there were other shades of green, as well.

Interestingly, a green-glazed rim sherd was also recovered, which matches a known flower pot saucer that is commonly decorated with a green-glaze. This same type of flower pot saucer was published in 'The Magazine Antiques' in 1931 as having been produced in Rhode Island.

Winterthur in Delaware and Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Massachusetts also own related examples; although, for reference, I have shown a flower pot saucer from my private collection that was previously owned by Hilarly and Paulette Nolan in Falmouth, Massachuetts. This flower pot saucer would have been manufactured with an appropriate sized flower pot.

2) Bands of Wavy and Straight Incised Lines: The archaeology also suggests that the Bradford-Parker Pottery was prolific with its use of bands of wavy and straight incised lines. This is a style that is commonly attributed to eighteenth and nineteenth-century potters in Essex County, Massachusetts and southeastern Massachusetts. However, I feel it is safe to assume that objects, which were produced with this type of decoration in West Barnstable may be mistaken for products made elsewhere in coastal Massachusetts today.

3) Incised Number: Sherd evidence has revealed that the Bradford-Parker Pottery used incised numbers to mark objects; these numbers may have been used to match the correct lid to a jar or pot after a kiln firing, but it could have been used for another purpose, as well, such as marking an object intended for a specific client.

4) Thumb Print: A sherd recovered at the Bradford-Parker Pottery has revealed a large/strong thumb impression at the bottom terminal on a handle. This type of pronounced thumb impression is not common with nineteenth-century eastern Massachusetts potters.

5) Footed Base: Sherd evidence has also exposed an unusual squared footed base; a similar style is found with potters in southern Maine in the nineteenth-century.

6) Variety of Glazes: There are dozens of different glaze colors found on the recovered sherds. I would compare this diversity to what is seen with some of the southern Maine potters in the 1800's. Although, I saw a similar range of glazes with the artifacts that I just recovered at the site of the old Osborn Pottery in Peabody, Massachusetts, circa 1740-1860.

Green-Glazed Sherds from the Bradford-Parker Pottery

19th Century Green-Glazed Red Earthenware Sherds
A Variety of Green-Glazes were Recovered
One of the Green-Glazes is Similar to a Style that was Produced in Southeastern Mass.

Recovered at the Site of the Bradford-Parker Pottery in West Barnstable, Mass.

Circa 1819-1854