Yesterday, I learned about a slip decorated red earthenware pitcher from Long Island researcher and collector Chris Pickerell, although I have no idea the origin of the object, even though I do not believe it is American-made. The pitcher along with a second example sold at RBFineArts in Taveras, Florida in 2021, where I suspect they could have been made in France or elsewhere in Europe, but I am not positive of that, either.
Pitcher 1: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/113283766_19th-c-american-redware-pottery-pitcher
Pitcher2: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/113283759_19th-c-american-redware-pottery-pitcher
However, the purpose of seeing this object is a result of how the slip was applied in a very similar technique to some red earthenware manufactured at the industry in Charlestown, Massachusetts before 1775. It is certainly possible that this type of slip was produced by multiple potter's businesses in Charlestown, although it is known that the Parker family applied this type of curved slip during the circa 1715-1755 period. In fact, this type of slip has been recovered from various pre-1755 contexts in America and Canada, demonstrating the reach of the Charlestown potter's industry during this period; these contexts include Nova Scotia in Canada, coastal, Maine, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, all over coastal Massachusetts, Cape Cod, coastal Connecticut, the Connecticut River Valley region, and as far south as the Carolinas, among other locations.
Interestingly, this type of slip decorated red earthenware has also been recovered on property owned by Chris Pickerell on the eastern end of Long Island in Southold, New York. According to Chris, "These slip-decorated pan remains were found among a large assemblage of ceramics, glass, pipes, bricks and other artifacts dating from the 1680s to the mid-eighteenth century. These artifacts originated from a home that previously occupied the property, with the first owners arriving as early as 1653."
Furthermore, I have also posted pictures of a slip decorated red earthenware pan that was made in the Netherlands in the fifteenth century. A very similar type of pan was also produced in Charlestown with one example recovered from a privy at the site of the Three Cranes Tavern; the tavern burned at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, whereas the much earlier Dutch examples have even been recovered from various fifteenth century contexts, including a pan unearthed in Utrecht, Netherlands in the 1990s.
Note: For more information - see my third book, titled, The Dawn of Independence, the Death of an Industry: The Pottery of Charlestown, Massachusetts: https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-dawn-of-independence-the-death-of-an-industry/.
A Comparison of Similar Slip Decoration Techniques
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come..
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