Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker: An Early Collector of 18th and 19th Century Pennsylvania Red Earthenware

According to the Allentown, Pennsylvania Leader from June 9, 1909, "The exhibit of earthenware, made at the early potteries of Eastern Pennsylvania, especially in Bucks County, attracted much attention at the rooms of the Montgomery County Historical Society at Norristown, Pennsylvania. Former Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker (1843-1916) was on hand early and not a piece escaped his critical eye. He had none in the cases (from his collection), but said he had quite a collection at his Schwenksville, Pennsylvania home."

Allentown, PA Daily Leader, June 9, 1909

An Article About Local Red Earthenware was Published in this Edition

Governor Samuel W. Pennypacker is Cited as a Collector of Redware

Photo Courtesy: Newspapers.com

Governor Pennypacker's appreciation for early American red earthenware is also documented in the book, 'Creating a Dignified Past: Museums and the Colonial Revival:' In addition to writing more than 50 books and papers, Samuel Pennypacker joined many historical organizations. He was a member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for 44 years, and served as its president for the last 16 years of his life. He also belonged to the Sons of the Revolution, the American Philosophical Society, the Society of the War of 1812, and the Philobiblon Club. He was also a founder and officer of the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania. 

While governor, his administration established the State Museum, including a Department of History, and he began the preservation and cataloging of all state records. He also served as a trustee for the University of Pennsylvania and as a member of the Valley Forge Park Commission.

Pennypacker displayed an equally strong interest in material culture, often concentrating on folk examples or the mundane items of daily life. In some ways he was a forerunner of today's material culture historians.

He traveled widely through the rural counties of Eastern Pennsylvania, saturating himself in local traditions, visiting elderly natives, and exploring old houses. While others at the historical society collected Revolutionary War records, William Penn's private papers, or drafts of the United States constitution, Pennypacker avidly sought the documents of everyday life: journals, diaries, wills, old deeds and bibles. Decades later such material is widely valued. As one historian noted of Pennypacker's activities, 'He made the field of Pennsylvania Dutch history his own.'

Pennypacker displayed a similar appreciation for the creations of rural artisans, collecting fraktur, redware, pewter, and provincial linens, as well as raw flax from historic houses, farm kitchen tools, even colonial umbrellas. It was most important for him to know the original owner's name, or to have an item associated with an event."

Unfortunately, I have not found any red earthenware that can be directly linked to Pennypacker today; although, he appears to have been an early proponent of domestic red earthenware, similar to some of the individuals who actively sought pottery at institutions like the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Historic New England in the late nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries.

Note: This nineteenth-century black glazed red earthenware teapot is owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art today. It is also an object that the museum acquired in the late nineteenth-century.

19th Century Black Glazed Red Earthenware Teapot

Attributed to the Thomas Haig Pottery - Philadelphia

Circa 1840-1850

Stands 5 5/16" Tall

Acquired by the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1892

Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art

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