This nineteenth century lidded red earthenware jar most likely from East Middlebury, Vermont sold earlier today at Merrill's Auctions in Williston, Vermont. The color of the glaze on this jar is one of the more typical types produced in the East Middlebury area, nonetheless though, a very attractive glaze color.
But red earthenware production began in the area about 1812 when Caleb Farrar (1780-1859) settled in Middlebury. He was born in Ipswich, New Hampshire and was 32 years old when he established the Middlebury business, which he and his son, Edwin William Farrar (1808-1845) ran for so many years. In fact, some of the younger Farrar's best production from about circa 1830 is found in various art museum's today, including Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Bennington Museum in Vermont, the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and the Vermont Historical Society.
According to Massachusetts author Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares, "A smaller potshop in East Middlebury has not hitherto been noted. It was run by a man named Carpenter, and stood on the north side of the road through East Middlebury opposite a white schoolhouse. A pitcher that was undoubtedly made in this pottery has a yellow-green glaze." This pitcher is owned today as part of Watkins' collection at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., although it is not illustrated in her book.
Nonetheless, this jar sold for $450 plus the buyer's premium.
On a side note - I want to mention that the Vermont Historical Society acquired in 2023 a late eighteenth or early nineteenth century slip decorated red earthenware jar that I believe was made in Bennington, Vermont, perhaps by Captain John Norton (1757-1828) or another potter that he employed at his business. I believe that Norton trained in Hartford, Connecticut, possibly with a potter named Faxon, Seymour or Goodwin. But either way, it is good to see this type of jar receiving recognition in Vermont, seeing that there are only a small group of these jars known today, along with a few other related slip-decorated forms, including a jug owned by the Bennington Museum. The jar was donated by New York author Warren Broderick. For more information - see my sixth book, titled, A City on the River: The Early Red Earthenware of the Hartford, Connecticut Area: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-city-on-the-river-the-early-red-earthenware-of-the-hartford-connecticut-area/.
19th Century Red Earthenware Jars from Vermont
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