According to Michael Strezewski, who is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Southern Indiana, "The Harmonists were a millennial and utopian religious group founded in Iptingen, Germany in the late eighteenth century. The spiritual leader of the group was George Rapp (1757-1847), who believed that the second coming of Christ was near, and that all Christians must make preparations to lead a model life for his return.
Due to their unorthodox ideas (for example, celibacy and communal living), the Harmonists were persecuted in their homeland, and they immigrated to the United States in 1805. They settled in Pennsylvania, but in 1814, Rapp moved the entire community to present day Posey County, Indiana, and built a new town, New Harmony, adjacent to the Wabash River. New Harmony was home to the Harmony Society from 1814 to 1824 and consisted of 180 buildings with a maximum population of about 750 residents.
The Harmonist potter, Christopher Weber, lived adjacent to his shop and kiln, and worked full-time manufacturing red earthenware for the residents of the town, as well as the non-Harmonist settlers in the area. Weber's production included storage jars, jugs, plates, mugs, serving bowls and pitchers."
Remarkable 19th Century Slipware Recovered in New Harmony, Indiana
19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware
Recovered in New Harmony, Indiana
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Michael Strezewski
19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware
Recovered in New Harmony, Indiana
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Michael Strezewski
19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware
Recovered in New Harmony, Indiana
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Michael Strezewski
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
4 comments:
Justin;
three of the Shenandoah Valley potters migrated to Indiana and Kentuck. All were producing in the German tradition. One had a Hagerstown, MD apprenticeship , John Brouse or Prouse, deeply German, and one was taught by the Bells afer they had moved to Winchester, Va. James Miller and Christian Adam, who learned with John Brouse in New Market, Virginia. Brouse waas taught in the latter 18 th Century and the outher two in the first quater of the 19th. If I ran acrouse this I would suspect a strong Hagerstown MD/ Shenandoah Valley venue.
Thank you!
Just FYI, I just finished a manuscript on Harmonist redware. We're waiting to get the photos taken but COVID has gotten in the way of progress. Hopefully it'll be out sooner rather than later.
Yes, I agree the Harmonist redware looks a lot like some of the potters from Hagerstown, MD. Weber was born and trained in SW Germany, near Iptingen and emigrated to the US (ca. 1805) with the potter's trade already under his belt.
Thank you so much! Looking forward to reading it!
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