The Use of Kaolin in Essex County, Massachusetts and a Mug Made at the C.A. Lawrence Pottery

While getting organized for an upcoming pottery exhibit later this year that I am guest curating at the Custom House Maritime Museum in Newburyport, Massachusetts, museum specialist Sean Palmatier shared a link to a book titled, The Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Paleontology of Essex County, Massachusetts, which was written by John Henry Sears in 1905 for the Essex Institute, now the Peabody Essex Museum. The book provides an excellent description of the type of clays available throughout Essex County, especially the clay beds that were used by both potters and brick-makers.

These four pictures are some of the photos included in a chapter titled, Clay. But an aspect of this chapter that I found absolutely fascinating is the discovery of a kaolin bed that was apparently used by the C.A. Lawrence Pottery in Beverly, Massachusetts.

According to Sears, "In Essex County was the beginning of brickmaking and the earthenware industries of New England. Over two hundred years ago it was famous for its manufactures from clay. Clay-beds have been worked for brickmaking in nearly every town and village in the County, and Newburyport, Beverly, Peabody, and Danvers still continue the production of earthenware. At the present time bricks are made in twelve different cities and towns in the County.

Residual Clays, formed from the decomposition of ledge rock in situ are rare in Essex County. One bed, which was probably decomposed from a ledge of felsite, occurs on the west end of Kent's Island, Newbury, and now a very fine white kaolin. The deposit has not been worked and its extent is unknown. A mug made from this clay at the Beverly Pottery burned out white. Another mass of residual clay occurs in South Lawrence, and is the result of the decomposition of a ledge of gneissic granite, quartz being absent."

The chapter then goes onto further discuss the various type of clays and levels in Essex County, but I would love to learn the whereabouts of the mug today that Sears cites from the Beverly Pottery. I'm curious to know if it still exists or if it was just a test conducted by the pottery to see how an object made entirely from kaolin clay would react once fired in the kiln. Although, I suspect they must have been aware of kaolin pipes made in America, and especially Europe for centuries.

The Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Paleontology of Essex County, Massachusetts

 Courtesy: John Henry Sears, The Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Paleontology of Essex County, Massachusetts

Courtesy: John Henry Sears, The Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Paleontology of Essex County, Massachusetts

 Courtesy: John Henry Sears, The Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Paleontology of Essex County, Massachusetts

Courtesy: John Henry Sears, The Physical Geography, Geology, Mineralogy, and Paleontology of Essex County, Massachusetts

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