Two of my forthcoming published feature stories in Antiques And The Arts Weekly will cover two red earthenware potters who spent at least part of their career working in Erie County, New York, one of which will be published in the next month or so. But in the meantime, I wanted to show a very interesting record that I came across earlier this week that seems to document a major pottery business cited in the 1850 United States Federal Census in Colden, Erie County, New York.
Multiple potter's businesses are included in this town in 1850, both of which will be subjects in my forthcoming feature stories, although this particular business really grabbed my attention; in fact, I asked a few days ago for some help on Facebook in regards to how the first name read. The consensus said "Sherman" or "Sherrman," and this is what I was hoping I would hear, seeing that I thought it read "Sherman + Graham Pottery."
According to the census, "Sherman + Graham” were manufactures of utilitarian pottery, producing 50,000 pieces of earthenware annually from 25 tons of clay and 1,200 pounds of lead in Colden. This is an undocumented operation today, although Sherman may represent John Sherman (ca. 1797-1888/born in Rhode Island), a merchant from the town of Collins (became North Collins after 1851) in Erie County, New York. Sherman joined into many partnerships in the area, beginning with a store that he established with his brother in Collins in 1829, continuing in various business ventures in Erie County through at least the 1860s.
Sherman is listed in census records starting in the 1830s as a “merchant,” but that eventually changed, when he is listed as a “merchant & farmer” in the 1860 Federal Census, whereas beginning in the 1870 Census, he is listed as a “retired merchant” in North Collins.
The focus of my next published feature story will be the name "Graham," however Erie County is really a place that deserves more attention today for some spectacular types of red earthenware that was produced in the area from about the 1830s to the 1860s. Not a lot of information is published about production in Erie County, but I hope that my forthcoming feature stories, along with my forthcoming two-volume Western New York book will shed a lot more light on the potters and the types of pottery produced in this region, which includes various colors of slip that was applied on different forms of red earthenware.
For instance, Western New York collector, author and historian Vince Martonis recently published the book, The Haven & Kenyon Redware Pottery of Sheridan Chautauqua Co., NY 1818-1828; Chautauqua County is located just to the south of Erie County. There appears to have possibly been some slip decorated red earthenware produced here, as well, which was recovered near the site of the Haven & Kenyon Pottery in Sheridan. This pottery will also be discussed in my forthcoming Western New York book; nevertheless, I think the idea of some dramatically decorated red earthenware in the most western areas of Western New York is a subject that deserves more attention today.
Preview of Forthcoming Feature Stories in Antiques And The Arts Weekly
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