EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: An Important Piece of 19th Century Incised and Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware

Saturday, October 28, 2017

An Important Piece of 19th Century Incised and Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware

According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, "Sgraffito is a decoration created by cutting or scratching away parts of a surface layer (as of plaster or clay) to expose a different colored ground or bottom layer. This is a traditional style of decoration found on Pennsylvania-Dutch pottery. The first known use of the word in America reportedly happened circa 1720-1730."

This past July at the antique shows in Brimfield, Massachusetts, Hilarly Nolan, a longtime antiques dealer from Falmouth, Massachusetts, who specializes in early-American objects including redware gave me a group of nineteenth century slip-decorated red earthenware sherds that he had kept in his barn on Cape Cod for years. The sherds pretty-much represented a complete jar or vase, which appeared quite important.

I instantly felt this jar or vase could be one of the more important objects that I had seen from New England; whereas, this object was entirely decorated with what seems to resemble a reverse form of sgraffito, where figures and objects had been hand-drawn into the clay first, and later highlighted by very thick slip. The combination of what had been drawn on this object appeared quite important for what is known about the eighteenth and nineteenth century New England potter's industry today.

To my knowledge, this could be the only object known from New England, whether it be a complete object or in an archeology collection decorated in this manner. The incised figures and objects include:

1) One Peacock
2) Two Eagles
3) Multiple Tulips
4) and a Variety of other Flowers

I immediately took these sherds to Melody Howarth, a professional conservator and restorer in Nassau, New York, which is located in the Capital Region near Albany, New York. Melody spent a total of about 60 hours on this project bringing it back to life to the point that this jar or vase now completely represents how this object had originally appeared in the 1800s.

Yesterday, I drove from coastal Massachusetts to upstate New York in order to pick up this important object and I was extremely happy to see the outcome.

I have posted a number of pictures below to represent the stages; whereas, I have shown how the sherds appeared when they were given to me on July 11th, then the jar under conservation and restoration in August, and finally how it appeared after full restoration when I saw it yesterday. The areas where the glaze is discolored or dripping is a decoration that is original to the object. The overall result is incredible!

Note: I provided a link in the article, but here is another link to Melody Howarth's business website, Mel's Belles Restorations. I believe she also has a professional page listed on Facebook, as well.

Important Red Earthenware Jar in Sherds