Last month, I posted a twentieth century red earthenware vase to my social media accounts, writing, "Perhaps a rare find today at my local Sunday flea market in Massachusetts. This twentieth century red earthenware vase was recently found during a house clean out in Peabody, Massachusetts, where the home was reportedly occupied by the same family for multiple generations. And it just so happens that there are a lot of unknowns about the various decorative wares made at the Moses B. Paige Pottery in Peabody during the circa 1900-1940 period, as well as two Italian trained potters who migrated to Salem, Massachusetts in the early 1900s and worked for Paige, later branching out on their own in Peabody, circa 1945 to the early 1950s. In fact, Historic New England owns a pitcher they made in 1926 that was decorated by one of their daughters. The colors on that pitcher are similar to those seen on this vase. The crayon or whatever was used to draw on the base is also found on wares made at the Paige Pottery owned by the Peabody Historical Society.
Furthermore, according to Massachusetts author Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) book Early New England Potters and Their Wares, "Perhaps the most famous craftsman employed at the Paige pottery was John Donovan, who was born in Exeter in 1851 and died in 1932. He was a turner for nearly sixty years, having become a skilled potter at the age of fifteen. I once watched John Donovan at work making kitchen bowls. He was able to complete one in from two to three minutes. One by one they would be laid on the drying board. Donovan meantime chatting quietly with his visitors; the board would be carried away, and he would begin another round. Speed was an important consideration in producing utilitarian vessels, but it took phenomenal skill to make them of uniform shape at the same time. During Donovan's day the Paige pottery sold commercially little herb pots with covers and a lip, almost identical to those made in the early days of potting. They were not made as reproductions, but in the ordinary course of events.
Edwin A. Rich, a Vermonter, worked in the pottery about 1880, and James Crawford Porter, an extremely able turner, was one of the later employees. Upon the death of John Donovan, the old tradition, too, passed away. Two Italians, Ermano and Luigi Paolucci, attempted to throw pots and to run the kiln, but they had not enough skill to do excellent hand work and they found machine methods unprofitable in competition with the great modern factories. They nevertheless turned out a number of interesting things in Italian style. These were principally pitchers and large deep dishes, tin-enameled, and painted in gay floral designs. They also succeeded in producing some colored glazes, such as a soft rose color, on a redware body."
Over the weekend, I discovered this finely thrown twentieth century red earthenware Italian style pitcher in a thrift-type shop located only a few miles from where the Paoluccis and Paige worked in Peabody. I was told it was found in a local home, although no other information was available about its history.
However, what struck me about this object is the way the base was cut by the potter, which is exactly the same as the base found on the vase. It is also very similar to the types of wares that Watkins describes that were made by the Paoluccis. Additionally, the clay color on both objects is exactly the same, whereas the pitcher's base reveals it was cut by a wire or some sort of string, another technique also found with some wares made in Peabody.
For more information - I suggest my second book available from Historic Beverly, titled, The Moses B. Paige Company: The Last of the Peabody Potteries.
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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