EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: An Exciting Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Pot Likely Made in Colonial Philadelphia

Thursday, December 12, 2019

An Exciting Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Pot Likely Made in Colonial Philadelphia

This post may seem a little redundant from what I already wrote yesterday; however, after posting the article about the slip-decorated pot pictured to the left below, I learned some very exciting news about its likely early origin.

I purchased this pot a few months ago from Robesonia, Pennsylvania antiques dealer Greg Kramer; he has owned it for as long as I have known him. Although, both handles were broken long ago, I have always loved this pot because it was not thrown way. It was still used as it always had been, just without the handles. The pot also retains a very old tin lid, which I suspect was made for the pot after its original lid broke.

After I posted the article, I learned from Philadelphia archaeologist Debbie Miller that the pot is very likely from Philadelphia, and it was likely manufactured about 1750. Baltimore collector and historian, Chris Rowell further supported this information when he told us that he has recovered a very similar slip-decorated pot from a mid-eighteenth century privy in Philadelphia.

I was thrilled to learn this information! When I bought this pot, I suspected that it was made in Philadelphia in the late-eighteenth century, but I did not consider the idea that it could represent Philadelphia's colonial red earthenware industry. This is also why archaeology is so important today - without it, this type of exciting information would be very difficult to prove.

Interestingly, as I noted yesterday, I have always enjoyed this type of form, probably because it can be associated with colonial production in places like Philadelphia, Bucks County, among other locations. It is also a form that is very difficult to find today. And in some cases, this form seems to have been a style that Pennsylvania potters paid special attention to by some of the elaborate slip-decorations that are known today through archaeology, museums and private collections.

Nevertheless, I have posted two other pots that I own in this type of form, including the wonderful slip-decorated pot pictured to the right of the pot that was just discussed. This pot is somewhat similar to a pot recovered a few years ago by archaeologists at the site of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, within a colonial eighteenth century archaeological context. Although, the style of this slip and the applied colors was also produced elsewhere in the Mid-Atlantic region during this period.

While I cannot provide specific details about this pot today, I hope I can sometime in 2020, but I do believe its production possibly predates the Revolutionary War. The pot was previously owned by Robert W. de Forest (11848-1931), who devoted a special attention to early American pottery production while he served as a trustee to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan beginning in 1889, and later when he was named president of the museum in 1913. I feel it could easily be displayed today with the MET's collection of American red earthenware.

Two Wonderful Red Earthenware Slip-Decorated Pots

(Left) 18th Century Slip-Decorated Pot Attributed to Philadelphia
Archaeological Evidence Says that it was Likely Made About 1750
Stands 5 3/4" Tall
(Right) Likely 18th Century Red Earthenware Pot Decorated with Profuse Slip-Decoration
Possibly Made Before 1775 in the Mid-Atlantic Region
Stands 5 3/4" Tall
Ex Collection of Emily and Robert W. de Foret of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
See Article for More Information