EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: An Early-19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Jar that was Possibly Made in the Hartford, Connecticut-Area

Friday, February 10, 2017

An Early-19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Jar that was Possibly Made in the Hartford, Connecticut-Area

It was written in an article published in the 'New York Times' on March 4, 1979, "In 1823, when appraisers could be fined and jailed if they failed to make an exact and true inventory of an estate, those who listed the goods and property of Joseph Arnold of Haddam, Connecticut were careful to include used household articles that anyone making an equivalent list today would probably not consider worth mentioning. Then, however, 'old cider hogsheads and flour barrels' were enumerated along with family silver.

Thus, in the list of his kitchen and dining-room furnishings, in addition to sets of wine glasses and Liverpool china, appraisers of the Arnold estate also duly noted 'two red earthenware chicken pye plates' valued at 10 cents each, and one 'red earthenware wash bowl' worth 12 cents. In today's (1979) terms those prices would translate as about $1 to $1.50.

Collectors of Connecticut pottery now value such slip-decorated redware chicken-pie plates, depending on condition, at prices at least 1,000 times greater, offering $1,200 to $2,000 for one plate. As for redware wash bowls, because their production continued later and they ware more easily found, their value on today's market ranges from $200 to $500, according to Lewis Scranton of Killingworth, Connecticut. Mr. Scranton, who has been collecting redware for the last twenty years (1959), is acknowledged by others in the field to have gathered up New England's most complete collection of early Connecticut redware forms.

His collection began with a well-worn dinner plate 'that had always been in the family,' and that was decorated with squiggles, as the wavy lines of white and yellow slip are called. Slip was liquid white or pipe clay poured from a cup through quills onto the earthenware. It was used to make zigzag and scroll decorations, sometimes straight lines, and less often to inscribe names and dates or to suggest the use (ex. chicken pye) for which a plate, dish or platter was intended.

No matter how great the quantities that once existed, early decorated redware is hard to find in good condition today. Because it was easily cracked, chipped or broken, much was discarded by its first owners. Because it was used for little-regarded or lowly household utensils and seldom if ever made into grand forms such as ornamental vases, it was not prized by early collectors. For many, interest in redware was sparked first when the book that is still the standard reference in the field, 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares,' by Lura Woodside Watkins was published in 1950 by the Harvard University Press."

This is a rare tapered red earthenware jar that was likely made in Connecticut in the early-nineteenth-century. The style of the slip-decoration is comparable to some of the slip that was produced at the industry in Norwalk, Connecticut in the 1800's - whereas, the tapered form is similar to jars that were produced at potter's businesses, such as the Nathaniel Seymour Pottery in West Hartford, Connectict, circa 1795-1830 and the Hervey Brooks Pottery in Goshen, Connecticut, circa 1803-1867.

I do not believe it is completely recognized today that these type of tapered jars were produced in the Hartford, Connecticut-area in the nineteenth-century. For example, there are a few jars that were stamped by Hervey Brooks, which are owned by Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts - and, the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, Connecticut also owns a group of tapered jars that were made by Hervey Brooks, along with a few tapered jars that were made at the Nathaniel Seymour Pottery.

But I also suspect that this type of form may have been manufactured elsewhere in Connecticut, as well. I have previously written about similar objects from my personal collection; although, this jar is especially intriguing since it is decorated in a style of slip that is regularly attributed to Connecticut today.

Note: I also noticed in the 'New York Times' article that I previously cited, which included a picture of an early-nineteenth-century slip-numbered red earthenware jar - this jar was made at the Nathaniel Seymour Pottery in West Hartford, Connecticut, circa 1800-1830. Most recently, this jar sold in Lewis Scranton's Collection in May 2016 at an onsite sale held by Skinner, Inc. in Killingworth, Connecticut. I have included a picture of the article, as-well-as a photograph of the jar below; however, here is also a link to this object's listing on Skinner's website.

Slip-Decorated Jar