As I noted the other day - it is thought that some of the fancier slip decorated red earthenware made during the circa 1795-1805 period at the Absalom Day (1770-1843) Pottery in Norwalk, Connecticut was created by John Betts Gregory (1782-1842), who trained under Day before leaving for Long Island and later upstate New York. 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.
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 (1770-1843) 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."
Nonetheless, these are four great examples of the early Norwalk slipware that were made at the Day Pottery during the circa 1795-1805 period. In fact, there is not a lot of this type of slipware known to exist today with some outstanding examples owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, along with other American art museums and historical societies.
For more information - see Richard Miller's article in the 2016 edition of Ceramics in America, titled, Norwalk (Connecticut) Slip-script Pottery, the Potters, and Related Ware.
And also my article written for the April 9, 2021 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, The Wares Made by John Betts Gregory in Clinton, New York: An Examination of Empire State Regional Redware.
Some Great Examples of Early Slipware Manufactured in Norwalk, Connecticut
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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