A Significant Piece of Colonial Red Earthenware Probably Attributed to Essex County, Massachusetts

No matter the condition, any example of domestic Colonial utilitarian pottery production is worth noting today, such as this large red earthenware pitcher. This pitcher has received very little attention since it was discovered, and later published in 1950 by Lura Woodside Watkins (1897-1982) in figure 9 of Early New England Potters and Their Wares.

On a few occasions, I have had the opportunity to handle this incredible object, now owned by the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. This may also be the earliest surviving example of New England red earthenware production known today, which also happens to have been the earliest piece of pottery in the Watkins collection, as proven by where this piece was illustrated in her book.

Watkins wrote that this pitcher was probably manufactured in the late-seventeenth or early-eighteenth century in Essex County, Massachusetts, possibly by William Vinson (ca. 1610-1690) in Salem or Gloucester, Massachusetts. Vinson was born about 1810 in England, and was likely a trained potter when he relocated to New England during the Puritan migration about 1620-1640.

According to Watkins, "In 1635, William Vincent (called Vinson) arrived in New England, and is known to have been in Salem, Massachusetts in that year and was perhaps the William Vincent of Bromfield, Essex, England, who is recorded in the Suffolk Deeds, August 25, 1636, as giving bond for Abraham Page of Great Baddow, Essex. The name Vincent is common in the Low Countries, and it is probable that he came from one of the numerous Lowland families that migrated to Essex County, England, around 1600. This theory is strengthened by the fact that he called himself "pot-baker" - a Dutch term. 

In 1641, Vinson had a house in Potters Field. The exact location of his kiln is known, for it was accidentally unearthed some years ago. Unfortunately no one was sufficiently interested to gather and preserve the pottery fragments that must have been buried there. 

Vinson's stay in Salem did not last more than ten years altogether, for in 1645 he had moved to Gloucester. Whether he was succeeded by another potter I have been unable to learn. The district afterwards became famous for its potteries, but only indirectly as a result of this first shop.

In Gloucester, Vinson ran a tavern and a mill in addition to his regular calling. That he kept on with his pottery making is proven by an item in the Essex Quarterly Court records dated November 15, 1670, when he brought suit against John Tode (pronounced Todd) (1618-1689) of Rowley to recover a debt of twelve pounds, twelve shillings for 32 earthen pots."

Furthermore, Vinson may have also trained James Kettle (ca. 1664/65-1712), who later operated a pottery along the outskirts of Salem, where similar sherds to this pitcher were found by Watkins, now owned by the Smithsonian. "The seventeenth century shape as illustrated in Dutch paintings before 1660 was that of the large pitcher in figure 9. This piece was found in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Its body and glaze are so like other Essex County ware, it may be indeed the work of one of the seventeenth century men in that area - perhaps William Vinson himself. In the James Kettle Pottery (ca. 1685-1710) dump in South Danvers (today known as Peabody), Massachusetts, we found vessels with a shorter neck and rounded body that could have been either pitchers or mugs. These bulbous shapes were standard forms before and somewhat after 1700."

Early Colonial Red Earthenware Pitcher, Probably Essex County, Mass.

Late-17th or Early-18th Century Red Earthenware Jug

Probably Made in Essex County, Mass.
Possibly Made at Either the James Kettle Pottery or William Vinson Pottery

Found in Haverhill, Mass. Before 1950

Stands 11" Tall

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Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

View of the Handle

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Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

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