EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Recently Acquired 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Butter Crock

Sunday, March 5, 2017

A Recently Acquired 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Butter Crock

I recently acquired this rare nineteenth-century slip-decorated red earthenware butter crock from Waynesboro, Virginia antique dealers, Christopher and Bernadette Evans. It was made at the Charles A. Lawrence Pottery (ca. 1866-1906) in Beverly, Massachusetts, circa 1870. I have never seen this form from Lawrence's business before - understandably, it is also an object that I am definitely happy to have obtained.

The crock previously sold at Crocker Farm in Sparks, Maryland in October 2015. Crocker Farm described the crock as "...a remarkable survivor, essentially in as-made condition."

A few yeas ago, I also purchased a slip-decorated red earthenware pitcher from East Waterford, Pennsylvania antique dealers and artists, Jeff and Kathy Graybill, which was also made at the Lawrence Pottery, circa 1870. But what makes these objects special today is the fact that they are both decorated with the same slip pattern. The Lawrence Pottery is known to have applied a few styles of slip in the 1860s and 1870s; although, any type of slip-decorated red earthenware from the Lawrence Pottery is still considered rare today.

Slip-Decorated Pitcher & Crock