EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Recently Acquired 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Very Possibly Manufactured on Cape Cod

Monday, June 1, 2020

A Recently Acquired 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Very Possibly Manufactured on Cape Cod

Over the weekend, I acquired this nineteenth century red earthenware jar, which I had been meaning to pickup for months now from Massachusetts antiques dealer and show promoter Kris Casucci, who his behind Walker Homestead's Antiques & Primitive Goods Show, the Walker Homestead Tailgate and Flying Pig Antiques in Westmoreland, New Hampshire.

I believe this jar is related to two nineteenth century red earthenware jars each manufactured with two distinct handles owned by Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts that descended in the Wing family, and were once originally owned by Samuel Wing (1774-1854), a cabinetmaker employed on Cape Cod in Sandwich, Massachusetts. The nearest pottery was one that was operated a few miles away by Noah Bradford (1761-1841) in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Other related jars have also since been found in the Sandwich area. Because of this context, I have always believed that this type of highly unusual handle was produced at the Bradford Pottery on Cape Cod after 1819.

Although, Noah Bradford's business was an outgrowth of the multi-generational Bradford family pottery in Kingston, Massachusetts that operated in the eighteenth and nineteenth century in southeastern Massachusetts. I wrote a five page research story about the Bradfords for the May 2019 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, "The Bradford Family Potteries in Massachusetts." This exact type of handle is discussed in the story, as well as plenty of archaeology recovered at the site of both businesses.

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Very Possibly Manufactured on Cape Cod