EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Circa 1760s to 1791 Stoneware Production from Abraham Mead in Greenwich, Connecticut in the Collection of the Connecticut Historical Society

Friday, November 23, 2018

Circa 1760s to 1791 Stoneware Production from Abraham Mead in Greenwich, Connecticut in the Collection of the Connecticut Historical Society

As I noted in a post from earlier today, I recently visited the Connecticut Historical Society's storage facility in Hartford, Connecticut, where I witnessed a wonderful variety of production from some of the state's eighteenth and nineteenth century red earthenware and stoneware industries. A notable aspect of this collection is the museum's variety of eighteenth century stoneware made by Abraham Mead (1742-1827) in Greenwich, Connecticut, located about 34 miles northeast of Manhattan.

Mead first learned about stoneware production as a teenager from Adam Staats (ca. 1720-1760s) in Greenwich, a Dutch potter born in Holland who died sometime in the 1760s. Staats also likely witnessed stoneware production in Manhattan, as records indicate he was in the city in the 1740s, arriving in Greenwich no later than 1750. Upon Staats' death, Mead is thought to have taken over the pottery business.

According to the Greenwich Historical Society, "Deacon Potter Mead was a prominent citizen of Horseneck, the original name for Central Greenwich. He was a commissioned captain in the Revolutionary War, town treasurer, real estate agent, deacon and treasurer of the Second Congregational Church, and one of the first Connecticut potters. As a teenager he was an apprentice to Adam Staats, a Dutchman considered Connecticut's first stoneware potter. Staats' kiln was located just south of the Davis gristmill. According to legend, Deacon Potter Mead, from close observation of Staats, discovered the secret of salt glazing. When Staats observed him throwing salt into the kiln, he is said to have exclaimed, "He's got it! He's got it!" True or not, Mead is known for his functional stoneware that was sold to the farmers and merchants of the Greenwich area and probably beyond to New York City and New Jersey as well."

Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins also notes in Early New England Potters and Their Wares that according to family tradition, the Mead Pottery is thought to have closed in 1791. She also wrote that the pieces known to exist today from Mead inscribed with the years 1790 and 1791 are meant to mark the final years of the pottery.

Among the stoneware made by Mead in the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society is a jug of significant interest; the jug is prominently inscribed with Mead's initials, "AM," as well as the year "1791." The jug is further embellished to the left and right of the inscription, in a style of cobalt decoration that Mead is known for today. If legend is true, then this may have been one of the last pieces ever manufactured by Mead.

Other objects in the museum's collection include a few different formed jars and a chamber pot - as well as a mortar that would have probably been originally used with a wooden pestle. I would also like to say that the chamber pot is the oldest object in the group, but I can not currently prove that statement with actual evidence.

Abraham Mead Stoneware - Greenwich, CT

18th Century Stoneware Jug

Attributed to Abraham Mead - Greenwich, CT

Inscribed "AM / 1791"

Circa 1791

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