It was about eight years ago that I posted an article to this website about Killingworth, Connecticut antiques dealer Lewis Scranton's collection of eighteenth and nineteenth century Connecticut stoneware, which was about to be sold in a no-reserve on-site auction hosted by Skinner in May of 2016. I always felt that his best object was a late eighteenth century stoneware jar made by Abraham Mead (1742-1827) in Greenwich, Connecticut. The jar was actually made for a member of the Mead family with the initials "EM," and dated 1791. The Brooklyn Museum in New York City owns a similar object, although their jar is adorned with the initials "HL" with the same 1791 date. There is also a jug in the collection of the Connecticut Historical Society with the initials "AM," also dated 1791; presumably this object was also made for a member of the Mead family or it bears the potter's initials.
Interestingly, every time I visited Lew, he always raved about this object, saying he waited years to acquire it from a family in southern Connecticut, where the jar had descended through the Mead family to the current family member. The jar brought $6,500 in 2016, which was the first time it had ever been sold publicly.
Nevertheless, this jar was purchased from Lew Scranton's sale by New York stoneware collector Warren Hartmann, whereas it just sold again as part of his collection at Crocker Farm's recent sale in Sparks, Maryland, bringing $11,000 plus the buyer's premium.
According to the Connecticut Historical Society, "Abraham Mead was born in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1742; he was the eleventh son of Ebenezer Mead II (1692-1775) and Hannah (Brown) Mead (1691-1746) who married in 1717, although his father married a second time in 1735 to Ruth (Reynolds) Mead (1704-1740). His father's family traced their lineage to William Mead of England, who came to America in 1635 via the Massachusetts colony; his mother was a descendant of Peter Brown, who came from Rye, Sussex, England on the "Mayflower." At the age of fourteen, Abraham Mead became an apprentice to the potter Adam Staats, who is considered to be Connecticut's first stoneware potter. After his apprenticeship, Mead opened his own pottery in the Horseneck area of Greenwich. He remained in Greenwich and was the master to several Connecticut stoneware potters, including his master's son, Adam States, who later worked in Stonington." Mead was also known as “Deacon Potter,” since he was both a deacon of the Second Congregational Church and the owner of a successful pottery.
Mead shipped his pottery far along the coast in his own barges, and he paid off the debt of the church on Meeting House Hill in Greenwich with income from his pottery and then served as town treasurer for a decade, beginning in 1787.
It was also about 1799 that the successful Mead built a farmhouse on eight acres of land in Greenwich; crowning the circular summer house on the front lawn of the Mead property in what was then known as Horse Neck Field Point, stood a womanly ship’s figurehead with rosy cheeks and black eyes, gowned in flowing white robes over a hoop skirt. Originally the figurehead fronted the clipper ship, the Lady Lancashire, commanded by William L. Lyon, although the figurehead now resides in a New York City museum.
However, I have always wondered who the initials represented on that jar; Mead was also a Revolutionary War patriot who held the rank of captain. He married Keziah (Howe) Mead (1743-1826) in January of 1764. There are various museum accounts of how many children the couple had, ranging from five to eight, but one of those kids was Esther Mead, born December 20, 1773 and died in 1810. She never married. Other than her initials, there were a number of other people in the Mead family who matched the "EM" initials, although they were all uncles, aunts, some nieces and nephews, but most of whom had died long before 1791 or were born on a later date.
Furthermore, according to a story posted by the Associated Press in 2017, titled, Norma Bartol: The Mead family included potters, farmers and boardinghouse keepers, "While going through my files, I discovered an interesting bit of history that I did not know about, and thought that I would pass it on.
It seems that in 1750, a Dutchman, one of the many in Greenwich at that time, set up a pottery business at Indian Harbor just beyond the tide mill. He made fine gray stoneware jugs decorated with cobalt blue scrolls and dots. He sold them around town, or what there was of the town at that time. Business was so good that he decided to engage a young man to help him by the name of Abraham Mead.
Being canny, the Dutchman would not let on how to make the pottery, but Mead watched the pottery being made so that, when the Dutchman went to New York, he might know how to make the pots, milk pans and jugs. Mead watched his employer and decided that the secret to success was the way the salt was thrown into the kiln at just the right moment.
One day, the Dutchman took off for New York with his boat filled with his wares, leaving his helper to mind the store. Young Mead studied the situation, and on the day his employer went to New York he started a fire in the kiln, took some pots already made but not glazed, and set them to bake. At the right moment he threw in the salt, just the way he had seen the potterer do. His guess was correct and the work impressed the owner.
The result of this was that Abraham Mead was made a partner, and later acquired ownership of the business. He was then known as Potter Mead, one of the many Meads that found themselves in one business after another, as well as being most successful farmers."
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