While visiting Concord, New Hampshire over the weekend, I brought along a rare nineteenth century handled red earthenware pot that I purchased earlier this year at the antique shows in Brimfield, Massachusetts, although I was told the pot had just been found in an old house in Kittery Point in Maine. My feeling is that this pot was probably made by one of the potters employed in the historic Millville section of Concord before 1850; I base this idea on related pieces that I have seen attributed to Concord, such as a number of objects that were illustrated in my most recent research story published in the June 2021 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, The Red Earthenware Industry in Concord, New Hampshire.
Interestingly though, these pictures were taken where much of the Millville community was located, which happens to be land now owned by St. Paul's School, a prominent college preparatory school associated with the Episcopal Church that was founded in 1856. John Farmer Clark (1832-1885), who was from the most successful family of potters in Concord actually manufactured commemorative red earthenware for St. Paul's in the late 1870s. For instance, Historic New England owns an unglazed pot inscribed "Clay from / the site of new / building at / St. Paul's School / July 1 / 1879." The New Hampshire Historical Society also owns two related pieces, one with the same inscription and date, and another dated "June 23, 1879."
Note: There has been some archaeology conducted at the Millville pottery sites, including an excavation by Dr. David Starbuck (1949-2020) at the site of Joseph Hazeltine's business between 1982-1984. This archaeology is kept today at Plymouth State University in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
A Red Earthenware Pot Recently Found in Maine and the Commemorative Wares of St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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