EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Two Red Earthenware Pots: One Pot that Just Sold at Auction and Another that was Recovered in Northern Vermont

Monday, October 1, 2018

Two Red Earthenware Pots: One Pot that Just Sold at Auction and Another that was Recovered in Northern Vermont

While there are certainly differences, a nineteenth century red earthenware pot recovered a few years ago in northern Vermont somewhat reminds me of another handled pot, which sold over the weekend at Duane Merrill's auction in Williston, Vermont. By no means am I saying that these objects were definitely manufactured by the same potter, although the forms are somewhat similar.

The remains of the handled pot were recovered a few years ago by Chris Helenek around an early foundation in Barton, Vermont within a circa 1790-1830 context, which is located less than 20 miles south of the Quebec border. It should also be noted that Brownington, Vermont is a neighboring community to the north of Barton.

It would seem that there is a good probability that this pot was made by Peter Clark II, son of Peter Clark (1743-1826) who operated a red earthenware business before the American Revolution in Braintree, Massachusetts and later in Lyndeborough, New Hampshire in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Clark II was also a brother of Daniel Clark who trained under his father in Lyndeborough before he established the industry in Concord, New Hampshire in the early 1790s.

According to Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares), as well as the Old Stone House Museum in Brownington, "Peter Clark II (1764-1851), known as the first settler of Brownington, was part of a renowned family of potters from the state of New Hampshire.

Old Stone House Museum

Old Stone House Museum in Brownington, VT

Built in 1836 by Alexander Twilight, America's First African-American College Graduate

Photo Courtesy: Preservation Trust of Vermont

When Peter II was 30 years old, he helped his brother Daniel set up a pottery in Concord, and then traveled north to settle in Brownington. He had explored the area in 1796, as it is written in Daniel Clark's (1768-1828) 1789-1828 diary (owned by New Hampshire Historical Society) that Peter II went to Lake Magog in Canada, looking for a place to build a house and settle down.

It is also documented in the diary, that in 1803 and 1809, Daniel journeyed up from New Hampshire to visit Peter II. In his last trip, Daniel brought red lead for Peter II (the same red lead source Daniel was already using in Concord), which shows that he was still practicing in Brownington then. He left the area sometime after 1809, for his name disappeared from all town records (likely returned to Lyndeborough and helped with pottery production there, which is also where he died in 1851).

When Peter II lived in Brownington, he was most assuredly the first, and maybe the only, potter in the area. On the grounds of the Old Stone House Museum, is a foundation, origin unknown, but assumed to be part of Peter Clark II's home. In August 2008, the pond behind the stone foundation was dug for the addition of dry hydrants for the town of Brownington. During this dig, a large amount of clay was unearthed. The presence of clay in the area adds strength to the assumption that Clark established a pottery kiln there in the village (operating circa late-1790s until about 1809)."

I would also like to add that to my knowledge, there is no known archaeology from Peter Clark II's production in Brownington, nor do I know about any existing objects said to have been made by him at this location. But it would appear that he must have fired many kiln loads full of red earthenware seeing that he was in business for at least one decade. Nevertheless, the pot recovered in Brownington could provide a starting point for how his wares appeared at this location, which by the looks of this pot also resemble production from New Hampshire.

Handled Red Earthenware Pot