EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: 19th Century Red Earthenware Teapot Artifacts Recovered in Berwick, Maine Attributed to the Thomas Crafts Pottery in Whately, Massachusetts

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

19th Century Red Earthenware Teapot Artifacts Recovered in Berwick, Maine Attributed to the Thomas Crafts Pottery in Whately, Massachusetts

It would seem that circa 1821-1833 black-glazed red earthenware teapots from the Thomas Crafts Pottery in Whately, Massachusetts may have been shipped to Portsmouth, New Hampshire in the 1800s. I have previously documented the remains of two artifacts that were recovered by archaeologists in the twentieth century.

The first teapot was discovered in landfill as part of an archaeology dig in 1967/1968 near Strawbery Banke Museum, which was originally known as Puddle Dock in Portsmouth in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The teapot is owned today by the Peabody Museum at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts; although, the landfill used for this area could have come from anywhere in Portsmouth's South End or waterfront neighborhoods. There was not likely a specific amount of fill designated for this area - and, rather it was probably taken from a number of different sources. Therefore, it is probably difficult to suggest any type of ownership for this teapot.

However, another teapot was discovered within an early-nineteenth century context of ownership about one-half mile away at the site of the eighteenth century Hart-Shortridge house, which was found on Deer Street in Portsmouth's North End. This neighborhood was excavated by archaeologists in the 1980s and the ceramics recovered represent both imported wares and domestic production (including locally made pottery) from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

According to an article published in 1988 in the 'American Ceramic Circle Journal' by archaeologists, Diana Edwards, Steven Pendery and Aileen Button Agnew, "The Hart-Shortridge House was a household lot located in Portsmouth's North End, whose occupants represent middle-class households throughout Portsmouth in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

In 1760, the ropemaker, John Hart purchased a 45 foot by 60 foot lot of land extending between Deer Street and Russell Street. On this land, he built a seven room, central hallway Georgian house that probably had a hipped roof, a feature of many eighteenth century Portsmouth houses. The house was later left by Hart's wife, Sarah Tripe to the children of her niece (Lois Shortridge), Sarah Ann (Shortridge) Adams and John Hart Shortridge."

Nevertheless, it is also documented today that red earthenware from the colonial industry in Charlestown, Massachusetts was exported to Portsmouth in the 1740s and 1750s. This ware was then likely distributed to local residents in need of such household objects. It also appears this pottery even migrated about 15 miles north to Berwick, Maine, where slip-decorated red earthenware chamber pot sherds from Charlestown have been recovered within a similar dated archaeological context.

Interestingly, I learned yesterday about the remains of two more red earthenware teapots attributed to the Crafts Pottery in Whately that likely traveled a similar route, as did the Charlestown chamber pot sherds; wherreas, these teapot remains were discovered on the property of two different homes built in Berwick in the 1700s.

The first teapot that I have illustrated was discovered by the current owners inside the attic of the circa 1795 Ebenezer Lord (1719-1811) house in downtown Berwick. The lid has sustained some damage, but the rest of the teapot remains in wonderful condition.

Additionally, sherds from what appears to be the remains of another Whately teapot were recovered on the property of a circa 1750 house built by Patrick Gowan in Berwick, and later owned by the Fogg and Libby families. It is thought that based on the period that this teapot was manufactured that the timeline of ownership suggests it was used by the Libby family in the 1800s.

Teapot Recovered from the Ebenezer Lord House in Berwick, ME