EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Style of Red Earthenware Jar Made in Central Pennsylvania in the 1800s

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

A Style of Red Earthenware Jar Made in Central Pennsylvania in the 1800s

Although, this type of jar is well-known today in Pennsylvania, it is not necessarily a style of production that is widely recognized outside of the state. But based on marked examples, it can be determined that some of these jars were made at the Henry Swope Sr. (1826-90) Pottery in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, circa 1840-60, located on the southwest corner of the intersection of Routes 23 and 772 in Lancaster County. These type of jars are also known to have been made in various sizes adorned in different decorations.

Henry learned about red earthenware production from his father, Frederick Swope, who according to a book published in 1914 by the Lehigh County Historical Society, History of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Its Families,"established the Mechanicsburg Pottery on a triangle formed by the pike and the Newport Road. The pottery business continued by him until 1850, when his son Henry took charge of the establishment, and built a second kiln and enlarged the two-story main building."

However, this form of jar was also apparently made by Frederick R. Leutzinger (1817-79) based on a marked example in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. According to the museum, "Leutzinger was born in Berne, Switzerland and came to America in 1847, where he operated a pottery in Clearfield in central Pennsylvania, circa 1853-79."

In addition to that, the Philadelphia Museum of Art owns a jar attributed to Henry Gast (1806-89) in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, decorated on each side with a figure of George Washington, and below that is the name, "WASHINGTON." I wrote about the Gast family and other potters from this area in an article that was published in the June 15, 2018 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled "The Archaeology of an 18th-Century Pottery in Lancaster County, Pa."

And to make it even more confusing, in the collection of the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut is another jar decorated on each side with a figure of George Washington, which is attributed to Henry Swope Sr. As a result, there is perhaps some confusion with what jars were made where and by whom.

Nevertheless, it would be wonderful to learn how this form is associated with three different nineteenth century potters in central Pennsylvania, all of which descend from different backgrounds. Personally, I feel this is a great type of production from nineteenth century Pennsylvania, and this particular jar is the smallest that I have ever handled.

Central Pennsylvania Red Earthenware Jars