19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds Recovered in DeRuyter, New York that are Owned by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

I was surprised last week while studying the archaeology from various American red earthenware and stoneware potter's sites at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. to learn that Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) research extended beyond only New England potters. There was a collection of slip-decorated sherds, which Watkins had gifted to the museum in 1951 from the site of the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, New York, which is located in Western New York, 35 miles southeast of Syracuse, New York.

The information on file at the Smithsonian said that the Elijah Cornell Pottery was established in 1819 and the artifacts included the remains of slip-decorated pans, plates and bowls. "The sherds had been decorated with wavy lines of white slip, spirals of white slip, combinations of black and white slip to give a floral effect, or scroddled in marbled effect, or as alternating colored lines."

According to Watkins, "The eighteenth century Chace Pottery in Somerset, Massachusetts (southeastern Massachusetts) was indirectly responsible for the first steps in the career of a famous man when, on January 28, 1791, Elijah Cornell was apprenticed to Asa Chace. This young man's mother, Sarah (Miller) Cornell had made a second marriage with Asa's cousin, Benjamin Chace, and Elijah was no doubt familiar with the pottery from earliest childhood. 

Born in Swansea, Massachusetts in 1771, he had got what schooling he could receive there and had done a little teaching, but he evidently had a bent for the potter's craft. After his apprenticeship was ended, he worked as a journeyman potter. But for an ambitious youth, this was not enough.

In 1805, he sold out his holdings in Swansea and went to Westchester Landing in New York City. Cornell's subsequent history is one of many moves and much hardship, but gains interest because he was the father of Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University. 

Little Ezra gained the fortitude that was his while working in his father's redware pottery. In 1819, the family settled in DeRuyter, New York, where, after a period of teaching, Elijah again established a pottery, which Ezra helped to build. 

In 1943, we visited this site and were rewarded by the discovery of a small collection of fragments. Elijah had evidently advanced somewhat beyond the rather restrained technique of the Massachusetts potters, for in DeRuyter he decorated a good deal of his ware with slip of two colors, black and white, either marbled or applied in bold wavy lines against backgrounds of contrasting hue."

Below, I have shown a large nineteenth century slip-decorated red earthenware jar that I just acquired from an antiques picker, who lives near Los Angeles in California. This object is directly related to a rare slip-decorated jar that was attributed to Western New York, which Crocker Farm sold in Sparks, Maryland in 2011. Crocker Farm wrote, "This outstanding slip-decorated redware jar is attributed to the Rochester-Genesee Valley region in western New York. The jar is approximately two-gallons in size and it was wheel thrown in two pieces, then joined at the center."

Nevertheless, the style of the slip found on both of these large jars is similar to the sherds that I studied from DeRuyter at the Smithsonian; whereas, I now wonder if these objects are related to the Elijah Cornell Pottery after 1819.

Sherds Recovered at the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, NY

Slip-Decorated Sherds Recovered at the Site of the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, NY

Elijah Cornell Established the Pottery in DeRuyter in 1819

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Slip-Decorated Sherds Recovered at the Site of the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, NY

Elijah Cornell Established the Pottery in DeRuyter in 1819

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Slip-Decorated Sherds Recovered at the Site of the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, NY

Elijah Cornell Established the Pottery in DeRuyter in 1819

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Slip-Decorated Sherds Recovered at the Site of the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, NY

Elijah Cornell Established the Pottery in DeRuyter in 1819

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Red Earthenware Jar Recently Discovered Near Los Angeles

 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Attributed to Western New York

Possibly Made in DeRuyter, NY

Stands 14 1/2" Tall

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Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

 Another View of the Jar

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Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

 Another View of the Jar

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Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

 Another View of the Jar

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Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

 View of the Interior

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Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

View of the Base

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Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

Western NY Jar that Sold at Crocker Farm in Maryland

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Attributed to Western New York

Form and Decoration is Likely the Same Potter Who Made the Jar Discussed Above

Stands 12" Tall

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Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Sparks, MD 

 Another View of the Jar

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Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Sparks, MD 

Another View of the Jar

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Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Sparks, MD 

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...