I had suggested that the platter may have been made in New England; however, I also know about the partial remains of a plate found outside of New England that may be related. Whereas, today I would like to discuss those remains that represent a late-eighteenth or nineteenth century marbled red earthenware plate that was recovered on Shelter Island, which is located on the eastern end of Long Island in New York.
Shelter Island was originally a plantation known as Sylvester Manor, which was established in 1652 by Nathaniel Sylvester (1610-1680), a sugar merchant, who was also the island's first known European settler.
But Sylvester Manor has also been a place of special interest since the late-1990s for archaeologists and students from the University of Massachusetts at Boston. According to the University, "Starting in 1998, faculty and students began an extensive program of excavation and analysis that continues to unfold. Excavations were carried out every summer between 1998 and 2005 with subsequent, more limited excavations carried out in 2006 and 2007.
The results of the investigations at Sylvester Manor to date indicate that during the first 80 years of the plantation's existence, it evolved from a provisioning plantation, into a tenant run commercial farm after National Sylvester's death in 1680, and then configured into a Georgian-inspired, country estate in the 1700s.
Taken as a whole the archaeological evidence from Sylvestor Maner suggest that Native laborers, enslaved Africans and Europeans all lived together. The ceramics recovered from this context appear to combine stylistic and manufacturing attributes with both Native American and African American traditions."
The Georgian-Style Manor House Built on Shelter Island
Circa 1737
Photo Courtesy: Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities
Nevertheless, the ensuing plate was not recovered within the archaeological context that I just described, but it was found within a later historical context of ownership on the island. The manufacturer is currently not known; although, red earthenware made nearby in Greenport and further west in Huntington have been recovered in various contexts of ownership on Long Island, which also include objects made in Huntington that have been recovered throughout New York City.
Clearly, the Long Island potteries in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were involved with a number of export opportunities throughout southern New York with the primary focus being the communities located on Long Island.
This plate may be a rare form of production that is not regularly attributed to Long Island today, even though Greenport is located just over ten miles away. I also feel that the red earthenware production within the Greenport-area is a subject that could use more research today - especially, the products that were decorated with slip, which may also include an object that is owned today by Winterthur in Delaware that was decorated with sgraffito.
According to the book, 'Useful Art: Long Island Pottery,' "The first documented pottery established on the East End was setup in the village of Greenport, beginning a family enterprise that lasted for nearly a half-century. Austin Hempstead and Samuel Osborn established a pottery works around 1819. The pottery, which was located on Sterling Lane, faced Sterling Harbor, the lesser of the two harbors in Greenport. In the same year, Hempstead and Osborn began to buy loads of clay from local beds in Arshamomoque. While the partnership continued in business into the 1830s, little information was found about the company. Sometime in that decade, Austin Hempstead also became the sole owner of the pottery.
In the late 1870s, the Hempstead family, as well as John and Philip Klipp operated separate potteries in Greenport. The Hempstead Pottery continued to produce red earthenware until the 1890s; in competition, the Klipp Pottery was also in business, but these businesses did not really last past 1900.
In 1981, an archaeological investigation of the Greenport pottery site was undertaken by archaeologists from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. The archaeology team dug ten test holes designed to locate the pottery. These test holes revealed that remains of the pottery works had been destroyed by residential construction and shoreline extension. Despite these problems, the team excavated a substantial number of red earthenware rim sherds similar to a documented Hempstead flower pot."
The known Hempstead flower pot is decorated with a coggle wheel along the rim of the attached saucer and the rim of the pot. This pot is also stamped with Austin Hempstead's initials on the base, as well as a woman's name, "Serrepta Moore," which was stenciled across the front of the pot in slip. She was a local woman who lived nearby close to Shelter Island. Interestingly, the edge of the marbled plate that was found on Shelter Island has also been decorated around the edge with a coggle wheel similar to the platter that I wrote about a few days ago.
I also want to mention that the archaeology collection from Shelter Island is kept at the University of Massachusetts at Boston; whereas, I have been told that there is a lot of red earthenware in the collection from later contexts, where some of which likely represents the production that took place in Greenport in the 1800s.
For more information about the pottery produced in Greenport, I suggest visiting this link, which will redirect you to an article that was published in the 2008 edition of Ceramics in America.
Note: The Samuel Osborn who worked with Austin Hempstead may be the same 'Samuel Osborn' who was born in Peabody, Massachusetts, where he also learned the potter's craft at the Osborn Pottery. But I have, yet to prove this association, even though I thought it was worth mentioning; whereas, the sgraffito decorated object that is owned by Winterthur somewhat resembles a similar form that was made in Peabody in the 1800s.
Marbled Red Earthenware Dish Recovered on Shelter Island
Late-18th or 19th Century Marbled Red Earthenware Dish
Recovered on Shelter Island Located on the Eastern End of Long Island
Possibly Made on Long Island
See Article for More Information
Recovered on Shelter Island Located on the Eastern End of Long Island
Possibly Made on Long Island
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Anthony Butera - Port Jefferson, Long Island, NY
A Closer View of the Marbled Slip-Decoration
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Anthony Butera - Port Jefferson, Long Island, NY
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
