The Slip-Script Wares Manufactured at the Simon Singer Pottery in Bucks County, Pennsylvania

I wrote in an article posted on July 19 of this year, "According to the Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum, "James M. Shaw (1836-1902) was a paper-hanger and painter until his death, living in Quakertown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. His name and business are prominently inscribed across a slip-script dish, attributed to the Simon Singer (d. 1894) Pottery in Haycock Township, Bucks County."

That attribution is further supported by another nineteenth century slip-script advertising dish (as well as other extant examples), which I recently viewed, while touring the red earthenware and stoneware collection at Winterthur Museum in Delaware. This dish is decorated with a masonic symbol, along with the inscription, "S. Singer / Potter / Applebachville / Bucks Co. / Pa."

Even though it is regarded as later today, Singer's production is significant, as noted by an object acquired by Elie Nadelman (1882-1946), inscribed "Singer Pottery," and later purchased by the New York Historical Society in Manhattan in 1937. According to the museum, "The avante-garde scultpor Elie Nadelman is widely recognized for his elegant, modernist works. Less familiar is the pioneering folk art collection he established with his wife, Viola Spiess Flannery (1878-1962), an impressive trove of some 15,000 objects that was purchased by the New York Historical Society in 1937. Influenced by the 'peasant arts' of his native Poland and other European countries, Nadelman began collecting after immigrating to New York City in 1914."

Nadelman may have also felt a connection to Singer, seeing they were both immigrants: "Simon Singer, an immigrant from Baden, Germany worked in New York City as a brickmaker before buying a pottery in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Red earthenware potters seldom marked their wares - and, rarely inscribed their name and trade prominently on the front, making Singer's production of notable interest today."

Slip-Script Advertising Dish for Simon Singer in Bucks County, PA

19th Century Slip-Script Advertising Dish

Made at the Simon Singer Pottery in Bucks County, PA

Inscribed "S. Singer / Potter / Applebachville / Bucks Co. / Pa"

The Dish is Further Embellished with a Masonic Symbol

Measures 12 7/8" in Diameter

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Winterthur

Another View of the Dish

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Photo Courtesy: Winterthur

Slip-Script Advertising Dish for J.M. Shaw in Bucks County, PA

19th Century Red Earthenware Advertising Plate Made for J.M. Shaw in Quakertown, PA

Attributed to the Simon Singer Pottery in Bucks County, PA

"J.M. Shaw / House Painter / Paper-Hanger etc. / Quakertown / Bucks County / Penn."

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Gary Hammond, Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum