There is a thrift or group type shop that I stop in every now and again when I drive past it in southern Maine. I’ve never found much there, but that changed over the weekend, when I discovered what I suspect is a seventeenth century (otherwise early eighteenth century) German stoneware square bottle surviving in excellent condition and retaining most of its original pewter lid. I asked the people working in the shop if they knew anything about its history, but they said they did not, although they did comment, saying it is something that was probably found in the area.
A related seventeenth century example made in the Westerwald region in Grenzhausen, Germany recently sold through Massachusetts antiques dealers Elliot and Grace Snyder, which was described as having been manufactured with armorial panels and dated "1680." They described a nearly identical bottle that is published in German Stoneware: The Catalogue of Frank Thomas, Volume 1, note 57, and Volume II, figure 57.
Interestingly, the few knowledgeable people that I showed this bottle to over the past few days said they have never seen an example of seventeenth or eighteenth century Westerwald stoneware decorated with a ship before. I also learned from archaeologist Mallory Rachel Haas that the ship may be a Hulk, which is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. The term Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its buoyant qualities. The word hulk also may be used as a verb: a ship is "hulked" to convert it to a hulk. The verb was also applied to crews of Royal Navy ships in dock, who were sent to the receiving ship for accommodation, or "hulked." Hulks have a variety of uses such as housing, prisons, salvage pontoons, gambling sites, naval training or cargo storage.
The concept of sheer hulks originated with the Royal Navy in the 1690s, and persisted in Britain until the early nineteenth century In fact, most sheer hulks were decommissioned warships
Related seventeenth century objects are also displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, among other major art museums, whereas this type of stoneware is found in Colonial archaeological contexts all over the American east coast. And I have personally studied a number of examples that have been recovered by archaeologists from seventeenth and eighteenth century contexts in Boston, Charlestown, Salem, Portsmouth, elsewhere along the New Hampshire seacoast and from southern Maine to Portland.
Furthermore, there is a very important circa 1702-1714 Westerwald stoneware jug owned by Historic Deerfield in Massachusetts that likely retains a history of ownership with the Standish family in Massachusetts. I have no proof of it, but I will admit that I have wondered about the history of this object in this country.
Historic Deerfield also owns a second Westerwald jug which was made for the English market decorated with an applied molded seal emblazoned "GR" (George Rex) with a crown above it. Evidence of these wares in America were recovered from an archaeological dig at the site of the of the Dr. Thomas Williams (1718-1775) home lot in Deerfield in August of 1976.
Nevertheless, a few Westerwald square stoneware bottles have also sold through Christies and Sothebys through the years, all described as having been manufactured in the seventeenth century. Here are some links to some of the examples:
1) Christies - June 26, 2000 - Armorial stoneware bottle dated "1691"
2) Christies - November 11, 2002 - Armorial stoneware bottle dated "1680"
3) Christies - April 4, 2007 - Armorial stoneware bottle dated "1680"
4) Sothebys - September 8, 2007 - Stoneware bottle dated "1676"
5) Sothebys - Unknown sale date - Stoneware bottle dated "1690"
An Excellent Example of Seventeenth Century German Stoneware
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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