EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A 19th Century Grecian Revival Red Earthenware Vase Found in an Old Estate in Peabody, Mass.

Sunday, July 10, 2022

A 19th Century Grecian Revival Red Earthenware Vase Found in an Old Estate in Peabody, Mass.

I learned about this handmade nineteenth century red earthenware Grecian Revival vase last fall that a friend found in an old estate in Peabody, Massachusetts (north of Boston); it stands 7 3/8 inches tall. This type of production took place at three potteries in this part of Massachusetts during this period; Thomas Nickerson's Merrimac Pottery Company (1897-1908) in Newburyport, the Charles A. Lawrence Pottery (1872-1890s) in Beverly and at the Robertson family's Chelsea Keramic Art Works (1870s-1880s) in Chelsea, although because of the refinement and the way this piece was made, I suspect it is from Chelsea.

In fact, a number of glazed and unglazed Grecian Revival products from Chelsea are displayed in the Robert A. Ellison Jr. (1932-2021) Collection in the Americana Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, as well as Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

However, I have never seen this exact form before with all of the exterior decoration. The basic form of the vase is somewhat similar to types made in the 1870s in Beverly, but the cupped base is a style found with the majority of wares made in Chelsea. The exterior also has a polished feel to it which you find with the Grecian wares made in both Beverly and Chelsea, while the interior is left unglazed and untreated. Many of the Grecian wares that I have handled from Beverly were also produced with an interior lead glaze.

Also take note of the white material stuck to the bottom of the vase - the majority of the pottery made in Chelsea was made from white earthenware, and all of the earthenware would have been fired in the kiln at the same time. Interestingly, the Dedham, Massachusetts Historical Society actually owns an amazing nineteenth century red earthenware model of the kiln in Chelsea (see below) that was made by the Robertson family, which is painted to simulate red bricks and gray roof tiles with a rain hood over the chimney. The base is inscribed, "Chelsea Pottery 1872."

A 19th Century Grecian Revival Red Earthenware Vase