I was rather surprised to learn about these two twentieth century earthenware vases that were recently found in an estate sale in Vero Beach, Florida, which were possibly made at the M.B. Paige Pottery in Peabody, Massachusetts, circa 1900-1950 or so. The base of each is impressed "PEABODY POTTERY," a mark that is found with various objects owned by such museums today as the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Peabody Historical Society, among other museums.
Although, what struck me about both of these objects is that the base of both pieces was also inscribed "H.S." and "T. Rhodes," essentially reading, "PEABODY / H.S. / T. Rhodes / POTTERY."
There may have been some sort of relationship that the Peabody Pottery had with Peabody High School, presumably if that is what the "H.S." represents; however, if this is the case, then very little is known about this today, whether it was a high school student (or perhaps an art teacher), who was visiting or working in some capacity at the business or if the pottery was actually involved with the high school. These are the only objects that I have ever seen like this; therefore, this is also the only name that I have ever seen connected to this type of production.
Furthermore, in some ways, these two small vases also remind me of similar objects that were made by Frederick H. Norton (1896-1992), who had visited several American potteries that were still in operation in the 1900s, including the Peabody Pottery; this was before he produced his own pottery, as a department head at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I also wrote a feature story about Norton for the August 16, 2019 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, The Career, Research And Collection Of Frederick H. Norton: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2019/08/feature-story-about-career-research-and.html.
For more information - see my second book, titled, The Moses B. Paige Company: The Last of the Peabody Potteries: https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-moses-b-paige-company-the-last-of-the-peabody-potteries/.
Thoughts?
Note: These vases were made with a white colored earthenware, a type of clay that I have not seen from the Peabody Pottery before, although I have read accounts that they were importing some clay. All other objects from the Peabody Pottery that I have seen are made with a dark red colored earthenware, similar to the color of a red brick. I also cannot imagine that someone was using the "Peabody Pottery" name after production had stopped in the early 1950s at the location of the Osborn/Reed/Paige Pottery, which was established in 1736 and ceased production in the 1950s with two Italian immigrant potters, a subject that I wrote a feature story about for the May 12, 2023 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly, titled, Ermano & Luigi Paolucci: Two Italian Immigrant Potters In Peabody, Mass.: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2023/05/new-published-article-in-antiques-and.html.
20th Century Earthenware Vases Made at the "PEABODY POTTERY"
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
No comments:
Post a Comment