Every now and again, nineteenth century sewer tile urns made at the Portland Stone Ware Company in Portland, Maine appear in various contexts in the American Northeast, whether it be through the antiques trade or an early context of ownership. Among the places that these types of urns were originally used was in cemeteries in the Portland area, some of which were large and made in two parts. They were also often marked with a company stamp.
Interestingly, a few years ago I came across this circa 1870s-1890s painted stoneware urn with a dark brown glazed interior from the Portland Stone Ware Company along the Mid-Coast of Maine. The person who had it told me that it was recently found in a local estate. But unlike the sewer tile objects, this urn was manufactured with a different intent, whereas this is a rare single piece decorative urn manufactured with serpent handles.
Prior to the production of this type of object, decorative red earthenware urns were made to some degree at the Dodge Pottery in Portland, one of which I wrote a feature story about for the July 8, 2022 issue of Antiques & the Arts Weekly, titled, Rare Red Earthenware Urn Discovered at Newburyport Estate Auction: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2022/06/new-published-story-rare-red.html. There is also a marked green glazed urn from the Dodge Pottery in the collection of the Portland Historical Society.
However, the form of this urn was likely imitating European porcelain and ceramic urns manufactured in various parts of Continental Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The serpent handles are also found on various types of European urns made throughout the 1700s.
Furthermore, I recently finished a feature story for print publication about various pottery manufacturers that produced painted pottery in America and Canada in the late 1800s. It may not be widely recognized today, although some of these factories employed skilled artists to paint these objects at their business. In some cases, the artists were women, including potteries located in Brantford, Ontario; West Hartford, Connecticut and Philadelphia. I have always suspected that may be the case with this urn, which to my knowledge could be the only surviving stoneware object known like this from Portland today.
Note: For more information about stoneware made in Portland - see my eighth book, titled, From One Town Came Many: The Red Earthenware Industry of Ancient North Yarmouth, Maine: https://historicbeverly.net/product/94597/.
A 19th Century Painted Stoneware Urn with Serpent Handles
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