EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: An Important 18th Century Red Earthenware Jug that is Owned by the Old York Museums in Maine

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

An Important 18th Century Red Earthenware Jug that is Owned by the Old York Museums in Maine

According to the Old York Museums in York, Maine, "Built in 1719, partially from the materials from the former jail dating from 1656, the Old York Gaol claims to be the oldest jail in the United States. It served as a jail at least until about 1860, then it served as a school house after 1879, only later to be restored as a museum in 1900."

It was also in 1900 when Charles B. Tower loaned an incredible black glazed eighteenth century red earthenware jug that he owned for display at the newly restored museum. I have not been able to determine Tower's relationship to the museum or the Town of York, but he may have been a local resident; although, it has also been suggested that he may have been a regular summer visitor to York, as well. Nevertheless, Tower eventually gifted the jug to the museum in 1914, and I am still trying to determine how Tower came to originally acquire the jug.

This jug was made by Daniel Bayley (1729-1792) at his pottery in Newburyport, Massachusetts in 1763; he inscribed across the front of this jug, "For the Use of Mr. Noble's Church, July 10, 1763." This jug is one of the earliest dated pieces of domestic utilitarian pottery known to exist today - and, it is also the earliest example of domestic red earthenware known that can be tied directly to an American church. It was reportedly used for storing communion wine at the Fifth Parish Congregational Church in Newbury, Massachusetts (Newburyport formed in 1764).

According to the Belleville Church in Newburyport, Massachusetts, "The original meeting-house was built on Meeting-House Lane, now Noble Street and on June 22, 1762, the Fifth Parish Church was organized. The Reverend Oliver Noble was the first minister of the church from September 1, 1762 and left following some injudicious business discouragements in 1784."

But Bayley's relationship with the church can be traced today beyond just this jug - he also operated a printing press in Newburyport, where he also printed sheet music that Reverend Noble used during his services.

The history of this jug has been well-published since the mid-twentieth century, where it has been cited and/or illustrated in various publications that include local newspapers, magazines and nationally recognized books. It has also been loaned to a number of museums that include Wintherthur in Delaware.

However, I would like to focus on the form of this jug today - without the inscription, this jug would likely be interpreted as an object that was manufactured in Essex County, Massachusetts in the early-nineteenth century. Whereas, this jug now serves as physical proof for the many potters, who worked in both the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, who often continued to produce similar forms no matter the year. They obviously did not worry about how this type of pottery would be interpreted two-or-three hundred years after its production.

I encountered a similar situation last summer, when an article that I wrote about Peter Clark's production in Braintree, Massachusetts and Lyndeborough, New Hampshire was published in the August 2016 edition of the New England Antiques Journal. I showed a large jug in that article that is owned today by Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, which was attributed to Clark that had been inscribed "Oliver Laurence / Lyndeborough / October 18, 1786." If it were not for the inscription, this jug would also likely be attributed to the early-nineteenth century.

Note: A characteristic that can be used to attribute this style of jug to Daniel Bayley is found on the handle terminal, where Bayley pressed two fingers to secure the handle to the rest of the jug - this is the result of Bayley only having two fingers on one hand.

Here are five additional articles about Daniel Bayley and his pottery:

1) These two articles show a Bayley Pottery jug that was uncovered within a circa 1775-1779 archaeological context at a trading post in Veazie, Maine -- Part 1 -- Part 2.

2) This article shows a nearly identical black glazed jug without the inscription that is owned by the Historical Society of Old Newbury in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

3) I also cite the exports of the Daniel Bayley Potter Company in my latest published article, which ran in the April 2017 edition of the New England Antiques Journal.

4) This article shows a pan that was made at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company that was uncovered within a circa 1760s archaeological context in New Brunswick.

Circa 1763 Jug Made in Newburyport, Mass.