A Whimsical Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Lamb Found Yesterday in Southern Maine

I visited the Maine Historical Society's storage department yesterday in Portland, Maine in order to study some material that was made at the Dodge Pottery in Portland in the nineteenth century; however, I also visited some of the local shops in southern Maine while I drove home to Massachusetts.

I was surprised to see this slip-decorated red earthenware lamb in the junk section of one of the shops, where I believe a lot of the clean-out-type material from estates is kept. The woman working in the shop also told me that she believed this figure was recently found in Maine.

The manufacture of this object immediately reminded me of a related red earthenware cow, which I purchased a little over one-year ago when Nan Gurley's lifelong antique collection was sold onsite at her house in Parsonfield, Maine.

Nan Gurley's daughter, Rachel Gurley had told me that her mother had owned the cow for as long as she could remember, and it was an object that she had always kept in her secretary. But I had also assumed that Nan must have found the cow somewhere in northern New England.

Shortly after I posted an article about the cow on this website, I was contacted by Tim Saunders, who is an antiques dealer and collector in Bayfield, Ontario - he said he owned a related cow, which also retained a long history of local ownership in Ontario.

Nevertheless, this red earthenware lamb is decorated in two colors of slip, which closely resemble the colors commonly found on utilitarian pottery manufactured in Nova Scotia in the late-nineteenth century. Whereas, red earthenware from Nova Scotia has also been known to commonly appear in twentieth century contexts of ownership throughout Maine, which is completely understandable since Maine and Nova Scotia share the same border.

Note: The links posted above in this article show the slip-decorated red earthenware cow, which I bought from Nan Gurley's collection in Parsonfield, Maine, as well as the matching-formed cow that is owned today in Ontario.

Red Earthenware Lamb

19th Century Red Earthenware Lamb Found in Maine

Possibly Made in Canada in the Late-1800s

See Dollar Bill for Size Reference

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Another View of the Lamb

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Another View of the Lamb

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Another View of the Lamb

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View of the Base

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