Some of Hamell's collection sold through Crocker Farm in Sparks, Maryland on March 5, 2011, including a significant earthenware jug made by Lorenzo Johnson in Erie County, New York. The jug was manufactured with the intent to imitate stoneware of the period; related objects from Johnson are also owned by the New York State Museum in Albany, New York.
This jug is prominently marked on the front "L. JOHNSON," and also having been decorated with a glaze and floral decoration to resemble stoneware.
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."
Nevertheless, this jug was purchased from Crocker Farm in 2011 by a private collector in Western New York. However, the jug just resurfaced over the weekend, having been consigned to Cottone Auctions in Geneseo, New York, where it was purchased by a local prominent collector in Western New York.
Lorenzo Johnson Pottery Jug Made in Erie County, NY
19th Century Lead Glazed Earthenware Jug
Made by Lorenzo Johnson in Newstead, Erie County, NY
Stamped "L. JOHNSON"
Designed to Resemble Stoneware Production of the Period
Circa 1850
Stands 9" Tall
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Photo Courtesy: Cottone Auctions
View of the Handle
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Photo Courtesy: Cottone Auctions
View of the Base
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Photo Courtesy: Cottone Auctions
Notice George R. Hamell's Mark
His Mark Incorporated His Initials and a Number
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Photo Courtesy: Cottone Auctions
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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