19th Century Red Earthenware Pan Discovered in a Circa 1750 House in Berwick, Maine

Last week, I wrote about nineteenth century black-glazed red earthenware teapot remains that were recovered from two eighteenth century homes in Berwick, Maine. The artifacts were thought to have been made at the Thomas Crafts Pottery in Whately, Massachusetts, circa 1821-1833. However, those were not the only objects discovered.

The following nineteenth century red earthenware pan was recovered from the circa 1750 Patrick Gowan House in Berwick, which was later owned by the Fogg and Libby families. The pan was found inside the house, but in such a context that would suggest it was originally used in the home in the 1800s.

The shape of the pan, the unusual wide rim and the interior glaze closely resemble the remains of a red earthenware pan recovered by archaeologists in the twentieth century in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Interestingly, the context that both of these pans were recovered fit appropriately for when the Dodge Pottery operated in Portsmouth, a relatively unknown and quite sucessfull eighteenth and nineteenth century multi-generational red earthenware potter's business, circa 1796 until at least 1864.

The pan recovered in Portsmouth was discovered in a privy on Deer Street before the Sherton Hotel was built, located near the waterfront in the North End neighborhood. It was recovered within an early-to-mid nineteenth century context of ownership. The Dodge Pottery was also located a short distance to the south of this site.

It is certainly possible that the pan recovered in Berwick may have also originated in Portsmouth seeing that the two communities are only separated by about 15 miles. I have previously written about other red earthenware objects that seem to have started in Portsmouth before migrating to Berwick, which include one of the previously mentioned teapots.

Note: Here is a link to a feature story that I wrote about the Dodge potteries in New Hampshire and Maine in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, which was published in the February 2018 issue of Maine Antique Digest. About one-third of this article is devoted to the Dodge Pottery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.


Red Earthenware Pan Discovered in Berwick, ME

19th Century Red Earthenware Pan Discovered in a House in Berwick, ME

Very Similar to a Pan Recovered in Portsmouth, NH

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private Maine Collection

Another View of the Pan

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Photo Courtesy: Private Maine Collection

Red Earthenware Pan Recovered in Portsmouth, NH

19th Century Red Earthenware Pan Recovered in Portsmouth, NH

Found in a Privy on Deer Street Within a 19th Century Context of Ownership

The Manufacture is Similar to the Pan Posted Above

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke Archaeology Department - Portsmouth, NH

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