EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: The Nineteenth Century Dry Family Pottery in Berks County, Pennsylvania

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

The Nineteenth Century Dry Family Pottery in Berks County, Pennsylvania

Yesterday, I posted on Facebook a nineteenth century three color slip-decorated red earthenware dish that was discovered a few years ago at a weekly flea market in Arizona. The dish was likely made at the Dry family pottery in Stony Point/Dryville, Berks County, Pennsylvania, which is a rural community located in the southeastern part of the state, about 55 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Although, the term "Dryville" is often used for attribution today, I am not sure that it is widely known what the attribution actually means, which refers to the location and not the name of a potter's business.

It is known that John Dry (1785-1870) operated the Stony Point Pottery, which was renamed Dryville in 1853 in honor of Dr. Benjamine Dry (1819-1907), who became the first postmaster, but he was also a potter, learning the trade from his father John Dry. I have not been able to determine how many of his sons were involved in the family business, but he had four sons, including Benjamine.

Aside from the slipware produced by the Drys, John Dry may have also manufactured some sgraffito, such as a reported example that sold in the Ralph O. Esmarian Collection at Sotheby's during Antiques Week in New York City in January 2014. The dish was inscribed in pencil on the back, "Made by John Dry / Dry Pottery / Stony Point Pottery / Dryville / Lydia / David Hess / Frederick / Bought by / C. Nippon / Nov. 16 1819."

In spite of that, I am unsure where John trained before he established the business in Stony Point, but it is possible that he is a southeastern Pennsylvania trained potter. He was the son of Paul (born circa 1760) and Elizabeth (Ettinger) Dry from Strausstown, Berks County, Pennsylvania.

Interestingly, after Benjamine Dry worked at his father's pottery business, he moved west to New Berlin, Union County, Pennsylvania, where he continued to work in the pottery business with his uncle Jacon Egolf. However, later business ventures and his eventual return to Dryville suggest that he did not work his entire life as a potter.

Nevertheless, the Drys were an incredibly talented family of potters, likely best known today for their production of slipware, often found on dishes applied in wavy lines and tulips. These are two signed examples from the Dry Pottery that are currently privately owned in Pennsylvania. One is a two color slip-decorated dish and the other is a crock.

Signed Pottery Made by the Dry Family in Berks County, Pennsylvania