While visiting a private collection last summer in Manhattan, I saw some great examples of American red earthenware and stoneware, some of which has either been published or will be published in feature stories that I have written for various publications. Some of the objects have also been posted in various stories to this website, although I have yet to show this well-used nineteenth century red earthenware flowerpot.
This circa 1850-1880 flowerpot is stamped "SOLOMON BELL / STRASBURG / VA," and it is impressed with various designs, including the oval type stamps near the midsection, which were used by Bell and other potters on the bases of various nineteenth century figurals made in the Mid-Atlantic region, especially in Strasburg and Pennsylvania.
Born in Hagerstown, Maryland in 1817, Solomon Bell (1817-1882) was the youngest son of Peter and Anna Maria Bell. Per church records, he was born on September 4, 1817 and christened in December of 1817 in Hagerstown at St. John's Lutheran Church.
His father, Peter Bell (1775-1847), operated a pottery shop in Hagerstown and taught the trade to his sons, John, Samuel and Solomon. In 1824, Peter moved his family to Winchester, Virginia, and Solomon continued to work with his father, while Solomon's older brother John Bell (1800-1880), who was also born in Hagerstown operated a well-known pottery in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, where Solomon worked briefly in 1840. Furthermore, the Renfrew Museum & Park in Waynesboro owns most likely the most comprehensive collection of Bell family pottery in existence today, a subject that I wrote a feature story about for the December 7, 2018 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, The Bell Pottery Collection at the Renfrew Museum in Waynesboro, Pa.: https://antiquesandauctionnews.net/articles/The-Bell-Pottery-Collection-At-The-Renfrew-Museum-In-Waynesboro%2C-Pa~/.
Nevertheless, in 1845, Solomon joined his brother Samuel (1811-1891) in the production of red earthenware and stoneware, operating a pottery on the corner of Fort and Queen Streets in Strasburg for about 37 years. Per census records, Solomon never married and lived with his brother Samuel and his family until Solomon's death in 1882.
Interestingly, this is the only flowerpot that I can find exactly like this example, based on what I can find in auction results, books and museum collections. I'm guessing that it stands around ten-inches in height.
Note: For more information about some of the various stamps applied by Solomon Bell - see a story that I posted to this website in October of 2022 about a red earthenware cat that I acquired, which was previously owned by a department head at Sotheby's in New York City: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2022/10/a-rare-19th-century-red-earthenware-cat.html.
Red Earthenware Flowerpot Made by Solomon Bell in Strasburg, VA
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