EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Red Earthenware Jug Recently Found in an Old Barn in Bolsters Mills, Maine

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Red Earthenware Jug Recently Found in an Old Barn in Bolsters Mills, Maine

I discovered this early-to-mid-nineteenth century spotted orange and green glazed red earthenware jug with my niece Alexis this morning at Todd's Farm Flea Market in Rowley, Massachusetts. Although the handle was broken, the nineteenth century owners still found a use for it to store molasses and a rope was tied around the neck to carry the jug.

The dealer told us his wife found the jug inside an old barn in Bolsters Mills, Maine, which is located to the north of Long Lake and Sebago Lake. Interestingly, this jug does have an Essex County, Massachusetts appearance to it, but it may have been made nearby at one of the potteries that operated in Bridgeton, Maine throughout the 1800s. The men who ran these potteries, such as the Kitson family are believed to have trained under potters whose backgrounds can be traced back to the industry in Essex County from the 1770s to the 1790s.

It should also be taken into consideration that the glaze found on this jug is too often attributed to the Osborn family in Gonic, New Hampshire today. This is actually a type of glaze found on red earthenware manufactured all over America and even in some parts of Canada.

Red Earthenware Jug Found in an Old Barn in Bolsters Mills, ME