It should be no surprise that prices were strong last night as Crocker Farm's fall 2021 auction came to a close in Sparks, Maryland, although there are a number of items that will be involved in call backs today. For those of you who regularly follow this company's sales, then you probably already know that there are so many stories that can be told about the hundreds of pieces of pottery in each sale, and this one was no different, but most of that information can be found in the auction catalog.
However, I was really pleased to win lot number 83 last night, which was a great size multi-colored slip decorated red earthenware loaf dish, seeing that it is directly related to a circa 1794-1800 slip decorated red earthenware dish that I regularly admire when I visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan.
Both of these objects are attributed to Absalom Day (1770-1843) in Norwalk, Connecticut, and the dish owned by the MET is actually inscribed in the center with Day's initials "AD." The dish I purchased is also significant to me since it is related to a research article I wrote that was published in April 2021 in Antiques & Auction News, titled, "The Wares Made by John Betts Gregory in Clinton, New York: An Examination of Empire State Regional Redware. "
Furthermore, in 1896, Reverend Charles Melbourne Selleck (1831-1909) wrote Norwalk, "in an attempt to bring the town's history fully to light, and to preserve and to perpetuate its mentions and memoirs. Many of these were gathered by the author while engaged in the necessarily hasty preparation of his 1886 St. Paul's Church centenary address in Norwalk, Connecticut, but most of them have since been collected, and their public presentation upon the eve of the town's quarter-millennial birth anniversary."
As part of Reverend Selleck's history of Norwalk was the life of John Betts Gregory (1782-1842), a potter who began and ended his career in Norwalk; although, I believe Reverend Selleck's recount was the first time Gregory's entire career had been published, only to be later cited in some twentieth century historical and pottery related publications.According to Reverend Selleck, "John Betts Gregory was born in Norwalk in 1782 to Abraham and Elizabeth Gregory, who lived where the late Henry Marvin resided, on East Avenue, and south of the ancient Beacham Lane. He learned his trade (potter) of Absalom Day of "Old Well (neighborhood in Norwalk)." After his marriage to Olive (1786-1883), he had a good business offer from Huntington, Long Island, which he accepted. He afterward established a pottery in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, which required a building 140x40 for his operations. He returned in 1831 to Norwalk and bought from Samuel Hanford, Half-Mile Isle, paying $325.00. He there built a kiln for the burning of earthenware and stoneware. The kiln was erected in 1832 by masons Lewis and George Raymond of "Old Well." The business was here kept up until 1840. Mr. Gregory died July 22, 1842."
No comments:
Post a Comment