This is a type of production that I am fascinated with today, since a matching style of slip was found on a brown glazed chamber pot, recovered from a brick-lined privy within a circa 1770 archaeological context at the Narbonne House in Salem, Massachusetts. Presumably, the chamber pot must have been locally made, seeing that it was found in that context surrounded by other chamber pots, pitchers and crocks from local Essex County, Massachusetts potters.
I have previously speculated on this website, as well as a feature story I wrote published in the November 2017 issue of the New England Antiques Journal, entitled Digging Into the Peabody Potteries: Archaeology and Red Earthenware, that there seems to have been some French influenced pottery produced in the Salem area. This evidence is supported by surviving objects owned by the Peabody Essex Museum retaining early local histories of ownership in Salem. Furthermore, this splattered slip is a style of production found in abundance after 1750 with potters employed in Lyon, France. Interestingly, the forms owned by the Peabody Essex Museum also correspond with shapes recovered by archaeologists in Lyon. This would not be an anomaly either; French inspired production has been a subject of great interest recently with a collection of locally made wares recovered by archaeologists in Philadelphia.
When I studied the Narbonne House's archaeology remains five or six years ago, I could clearly see that the domestic red earthenware utilized on the property during the circa 1770-1810 period was predominantly shipped from two locations; the first being the nearby industry in South Danvers (today known as Peabody), Massachusetts, as well as the circa 1764-1799 Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Massachusetts.
From the Bayley Pottery artifacts I have studied at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., this brand of splattered slip does not appear to have been a style utilized in Newburyport. However, the context that the pot was recovered in Salem does suggest that an American potter is likely responsible for this type of slip - but the identity of that potter or even potters is currently unknown, and a subject I hope to provide a clear answer for in the future. Nevertheless, the jar found by Oliver Garland in Vermont may be related to that brand of production.
Note: The picture that I have posted below of the chamber pot was taken from the Narbonne House Archaeology Report, although I have also handled this artifact, but I do not have a picture to share. I also want to note that the jar found in Vermont exhibits a coggle decoration - I have not seen this exact style of coggle before from eighteenth or early-nineteenth century coastal Massachusetts. But that does not necessarily mean it was not utilized.
18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Jar with Splattered Slip-Decoration
Recently Found in Vermont, But Reportedly Previously Found in Massachusetts
May Be Related to a Brown Glazed Chamber Pot with Splattered Slip Recovered in Salem, Mass.
Probably Circa 1770-1810
See Article and Picture Below for More Information
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Another View of the Jar
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Another View of the Jar
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Oliver Garland
Splattered Slip-Decorated Chamber Pot Recovered in Salem, Mass.
(Left) 18th Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot
Decorated with a Brown Glaze and Splattered Slip-Decoration
Possibly Related to the Jar of Discussion
Recovered from a Privy at the Narbonne House in Salem, Mass.
Probably Made by a Local Potter
Circa 1770
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: National Park Service, Narbonne House
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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