EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: An Exception Colonial Slip-Decorated Cup that Appeared at Antiques Week in New Hampshire

Friday, August 9, 2019

An Exception Colonial Slip-Decorated Cup that Appeared at Antiques Week in New Hampshire

I attended most of the antique shows this week in New Hampshire, trying to see as much American pottery as possible, and this slip-decorated red earthenware cup was by far the rarest piece of pottery that I saw. A friend purchased it for his private collection in New England, but it was found in the booth of South Egremont, Massachusetts antiques dealers, Elliot and Grace Snyder who exhibited at The Collector's Fair at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.

I asked the Snyders if the cup came with any kind of history, and they said it retains a history of twentieth century ownership in collections in central New England. But any history previous to that is currently unknown.

Nonetheless, there is a very good chance that this great small eighteenth century cup was made at the Colonial pottery industry in Charlestown, Massachusetts, circa 1635-1775. It probably dates from the mid-eighteenth century period or so, circa 1740-1775.

The reason I suggest this cup could have been made in Charlestown is because of the overall form, the ribbed mid-section, the way the footed base was manufactured, how part of the handle was made, the color of the glaze along with the green dots, as well as the slip technique. This type of ribbed mid-section is also found with eighteenth century red earthenware manufactured in Philadelphia. But in one way or another, all of these characteristics are found in the archaeology that I have studied from the Charlestown archaeology collection at the City of Boston Archaeology Program in West Roxbury, Massachusetts.

When I first handled this object, I instantly thought there could be a Charlestown connection, although I also considered the idea that it may have been made by an eighteenth century Essex County, Massachusetts potter or even a Portsmouth, New Hampshire manufacturer. But the more I thought about it, I realized that the form and the slip technique did not match with what I have studied from these locations. It did not really fit in with any of the wares that I have seen made in the Salem, Massachusetts area, nor did it compare to what I could remember studying from the pottery made in Newburyport, Massachusetts. This cup really resembled some of the locally made artifacts that I have seen from Charlestown.

As simple as it might be, the style of the slip found on this cup is represented on an important heavily slip-decorated Charlestown double-handled lidded bowl that I was able to identify a few years back at an auction in Maine. That bowl is thought to have been made at the Parker family pottery in Charlestown sometime before 1755.

Interestingly, the size of this cup is also represented in the Charlestown archaeology collection; however, from what can be seen on that artifact, the style of the slip is different. But the size and the base is very similar. I should also mention that this style of base is found on locally made mugs of various sizes throughout the Charlestown archaeology collection.

For all that, though seeing this object was quite exciting since it is potentially an example of Colonial Charlestown pottery, where very little survives from this industry today. I try to document every piece of surviving Charlestown red earthenware known, and for all of the red earthenware that these potters made for about 140 years, I can count less than ten surviving examples in existence today.

Exceptional Slip-Decorated Cup