Wednesday, March 16, 2022

A Good 19th Century Stoneware Jug from Northern Pennsylvania Sells in Maine

This two gallon nineteenth century cobalt decorated stoneware jug sold earlier this year through Thomaston Place Auction Galleries in Thomaston, Maine; the jug is decorated with a distinctive perched bird and marked "H. WESTON." The jug sold for $3,000 plus the auction premiums.

According to the Wayne County, Pennsylvania Historical Society, "The story of the Weston family stoneware company began with Reverend Horace Weston in New York, although in about 1826, due to failing health, Reverend Weston gave up his physically demanding fifty-mile ministry in Ulster and Sullivan County, New York; whereas, Ellenville, New York became his permanent home in which he began manufacturing stoneware and shipping it along the entire length of the Delaware and Hudson Canal.

Nonetheless, in the spring of 1848, he purchased land about sixty miles west of Ellenville, just over the New York border on Sixth Street in Honesdale, Wayne County, Pennsylvania; this is where he attempted to establish a branch factory, but he died in July of that year. 

As a result, his twenty-eight year old son William W. Weston carried on and built the factory, which was finished in the spring of 1849. However, by 1854, William had left the business in order to pursue other interests, and his brother Horace Junior was placed in charge of the Honesdale Plant.

Among the marks applied in Honesdale were "H. WESTON" and "H. WESTON / HONESDALE, PA." 

The Weston family's production ceased altogether in Honesdale when Horace Jr. died in 1872."

Note: Production did not end in Ellenville, New York when Reverend Weston died in 1848; the company remained with another son Daniel R. Weston until he died in 1879. During the 1849-1879 period, the company used the mark "D. WESTON / ELLENVILLE, NY."

A Good 19th Century Stoneware Jug from Northern Pennsylvania

19th Century Two Gallon Stoneware Jug Decorated with a Perched Bird in Cobalt
Made at the Weston Family Stoneware Company in Honesdale, Pennsylvania
Impressed "H. WESTON"
Circa 1849-1872
Stands 12 1/2" Tall
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Thomaston Place Auction Galleries
View of the Impressed Capacity Mark and Maker's Mark
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Thomaston Place Auction Galleries

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