EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: 19th Century Red Earthenware Pots Attributed to Lorenzo Johnson's Pottery in Western New York

Thursday, January 24, 2019

19th Century Red Earthenware Pots Attributed to Lorenzo Johnson's Pottery in Western New York

Yesterday, I posted a story showing a nineteenth century slip-decorated red earthenware pot that was very possibly made by Lorenzo Johnson in Newstead, Erie County, New York, circa 1850-1875. Aside from the slip-decoration, the pot displayed two distinct handles and an unglazed rim, which are both characteristics that the Johnson Pottery is known for today.

According to the exhibit catalog, Clay in the Hands of the Potter: An Exhibition of Pottery Manufactured in the Rochester and Genesee Valley Region, Circa 1793-1900, which was published by the Rochester Museum and Science Center in 1974, "Lorenzo Johnson operated a lead-glazed earthenware pottery in the extreme southwestern corner of the Town of Newstead as early as 1850. By 1866 he was producing both red earthenware and drain tile. Sometime after 1880, but before 1887, he moved a few miles south to Mill Grove, Erie County where he was active in another pottery operation.

Among the potters who may have worked for Johnson at Newstead was James Banford. Banford resided in Newstead, circa 1854-1859. He had previously operated a red earthenware pottery in the Village of Avon, Livingston County, and prior to that he had been a resident of West Bloomfield.

From extant examples of Johnson's wares and from sherds collected from the pottery site, we can see that in at least some of his production, Johnson was obviously attempting to imitate stoneware in form, glaze color and decoration. His use of a blue slip floral decoration is a trait also shared by a couple of Ontario, Canada earthenware potters. Records do suggest that Johnson may have been a resident of Canada in the late-1840s, which was previous to his employment in western New York as a potter beginning around 1850."

A few summers ago, I purchased this red earthenware pot in Brimfield, Massachusetts from Camden, Delaware antiques dealer, John Chaski. This is another form of pot that was made at the Johnson Pottery in Western New York, which also happens to closely resemble two objects in the collection of the New York State Museum in Albany, New York.

Pots Attributed to Lorenzo Johnson's Pottery in Newstead, NY