This was quite the surprise find over the weekend, while walking my dog in downtown Newburyport, Massachusetts! We spotted this large nineteenth century salt-glazed stoneware pitcher with its original lid, surviving in excellent condition, in a thrift/collectible type shop. I cannot recall having seen a pitcher like this before, which I attribute to the Whites Pottery in Utica, New York, circa 1870s to 1890s. It stands 9 1/2 inches tall and measures 12 inches across. Somewhat comparable wares were also made at the Robinson Clay Products Company in Akron, Ohio in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, although the manufacture of this object is different than how those types of wares were produced.
Interestingly, the most comprehensive collection of stoneware made in Utica is found in the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute, which includes a variety of objects made at the Whites Pottery after 1876, however this form is not represented in their collection.
Furthermore, the bellarmine style bearded man seen on the front of this pitcher is known on other pitchers and steins made at the Whites Pottery. And as I previously mentioned - the lid is original. There is an intentional cutout on the lid that lets it rest perfectly beneath two knobs on the pitcher. In my opinion, the only way to replicate this would be for an identical lid to have come from a matching shaped pitcher.
According to the website BlueWhitePottery.org: "Noah White began making pottery for several local firms in Utica about 1834. But in 1839, he bought out one of these companies, the Addington Pottery, and began making stoneware with the mark “N. WHITE” with the help of his son Nicholas A. White. Another son, William, joined the pottery in 1843; both were made partners in 1849 when the firm became known as “N. WHITE AND SONS”.
William White sold out in 1856 and moved to Utica, Illinois, and the firm’s mark changed to “N. WHITE AND SON”. In spite of the rapid changes in company ownership – or perhaps because of it – the marks “WHITE UTICA” OR “WHITES UTICA” were used from the 1850s to the 1870s.
In 1863, Noah’s grandson William N. White joined the pottery and the name changed to "NOAH WHITE, SON AND COMPANY." Two years later, Noah died and Nicholas assumed control of the works, changing the name to “N. A. WHITE AND COMPANY”. This name was modified slightly in 1867 to “N. A. WHITE AND SON,” when his son became a partner.
From 1876 to 1882, the firm’s mark became “WHITES, UTICA, N.Y.” In 1882 Nicholas’s younger son Charles N. White joined the pottery and the mark became “N.A. WHITE AND SON, UTICA, N.Y.” The company used the name “CENTRAL NEW YORK POTTERY” from 1890 to 1899, and then “WHITES POTTERY INC.” until the pottery stopped making stoneware in 1907."
A Rare Example of 19th Century Stoneware Discovered in Massachusetts
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2 comments:
Wingender pottery, Haddonfield NJ?
It looks a little different but certainly possible. The face on the front of this pitcher is seen on other objects made in Utica so that's why I thought it was made there.
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