While photographing some outstanding archaeology yesterday for my forthcoming book, A City on the River: The Early Red Earthenware of the Hartford, Connecticut Area at the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield, Connecticut, I saw this eighteenth century American stoneware chamber pot sherd. The object was recovered alongside more than 100,000 other artifacts in 2020 during archaeological excavations in the courtyard in front of the circa 1752 Joseph Webb (ca. 1727-1761) House, a national landmark, and one of three beautifully preserved eighteenth century houses owned by the museum.
Webb was a young and successful merchant when the house was built - he hired Judah Wright (ca. 1710-1772) to construct a stylish three-and-a-half story house and shop with a massive gambrel roof that provided greater upper floor storage for Webb's trade goods. However, when Webb died in 1761, the property was inherited by his son Joseph Webb Jr. (1749-1815), although due to economic difficulties, Joseph Jr. was forced to sell the house in 1790. And after a series of owners, the property was finally purchased by Judge Martin Welles (1787-1863) about 1820. He modernized the south half of the house and it remained in his family until his grandson died in 1913.
The house served as George Washington's (1732-1799) headquarters in May 1781 and is where Continental General met with French commander the Comte de Rochambeau (1725-1807) to plan the joint military campaign that led to the victory at Yorktown in Virginia and the end of the American Revolution. It was later owned by famous antiquarian Wallace Nutting (1861-1941).
The archaeology of the courtyard at the Joseph Webb House revealed that when the home was built the ground level was three feet lower than it is today. This area was originally a workspace and a garbage dump for the Webbs. The archaeological deposits include both Joseph Sr. and Joseph Jr.'s occupancies, followed by a nineteenth century kitchen herb garden and a twentieth century layer of cobblestones and flagstones.
Interestingly, the reason I visited the museum is a result of the the locally made red earthenware that was discovered, which was produced in West Hartford, Connecticut, probably dating from the 1790-1825 period. But I was also intrigued by this eighteenth century American stoneware chamber pot sherd.
As you can see, the artifact is adorned with some incised lines and cobalt decoration. Although, it is unclear to me whether this chamber pot was manufactured locally, or if it was imported from another American manufacturer, considering all of the domestic and international trade that took place along the Connecticut River during this period.
18th C. Stoneware Artifact Recovered from the Joseph Webb House in Wethersfield, Conn.
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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