New Published Feature Story in Antiques & Auction News: The 19th- And 20th-Century Stahl Family Pottery In Lehigh County, Pa.

My latest feature story is published on pages 6, 10 and 11 in the current September 6, 2024 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, The 19th- And 20th-Century Stahl Family Pottery In Lehigh County, Pa.

Here are links to PDFs of each page --

Page 6: https://www.scribd.com/document/764439572/ant-006-090624-pdf-Stahl-page-6

Page 10: https://www.scribd.com/document/764439964/ant-010-090624-Stahl-page-10

Page 11: https://www.scribd.com/document/764440168/ant-011-090624-Stahl-page-11

New Published Feature Story in Antiques & Auction News

September 6, 2024 issue of Antiques & Auction News

The 19th- And 20th-Century Stahl Family Pottery In Lehigh County, Pa.

Page 6

See Above for More Information

September 6, 2024 issue of Antiques & Auction News

The 19th- And 20th-Century Stahl Family Pottery In Lehigh County, Pa.

Page 6

See Above for More Information

September 6, 2024 issue of Antiques & Auction News

The 19th- And 20th-Century Stahl Family Pottery In Lehigh County, Pa.

Page 6

See Above for More Information

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...

An Important Rediscovered Battle of Bunker Hill Claims Book: "This Book contains an Estimate of the Loss Sustained by the Inhabitants of CHARLESTOWN by the Destruction there of June 17th Anno Domini 1776"

Colonial Charlestown, Massachusetts potter John Parker's (1719-1762) 1747-1761 potter's daybook is published in various reference books and scholarly articles today, which is kept in the permanent collection of the Baker Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Among the published sources that the book has been cited are Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) book Early New England Potters and Their Wares and an article written by Massachusetts potter Rick Hamelin for the March 1, 2017 issue of The Chronicle of Early American Industries Association Volume 70 Number 1, titled, "John Parker His Book 1747 may 23."

However, I am very excited to announce today that a book of claims filed after the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775 in Charlestown has just been rediscovered in the collection of the Boston Public Library. This important historical record was not previously known to exist until it was accidentally found last year tucked away in a box at the library. This information is thanks to Boston City Archaeologist Joe Bagley. The title of the claims book reads, This Book contains an Estimate of the Loss Sustained by the Inhabitants of CHARLESTOWN by the Destruction there of June 17th Anno Domini 1776.

Among those who filed claims were brickmakers and red earthenware potters, such as Battery Powers (1736-1807), Jonathan Penney (d. 1789) and John Harris (1752-1814), along with other potters; interestingly, the claims have been cited in some nineteenth century publications, but the information does not match the original handwritten claims (it is unclear why this is the case). One of those publications is a book published in 1888, titled, A Century Of Town Life: A History Of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1775-1887. According to some of the information in this book, "Also in the neighborhood of the (town) dock appear to have been the losses of Battery Powers (231), pot-house, kiln-house and clay-mill."

For more information about Harris' daybook and the the Colonial pottery industry in Charlestown - see my fourth published 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/.

An Important Rediscovered Battle of Bunker Hill Claims Book

This Book contains an Estimate of the Loss Sustained by the Inhabitants of CHARLESTOWN by the Destruction there of June 17th Anno Domini 1776

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Boston Public Library

Another View of the Claims Book

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Boston Public Library

Description of the Claims Book Found on Page 5

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Boston Public Library

Some of the Claims Filed by Charlestown, Mass. Potters

Claim Filed by Potter Battery Powers

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Boston Public Library

Potter Battery Powers Listed in the Claims Book

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Boston Public Library

Claim Filed by Potter Jonathan Penney

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Boston Public Library

Claim Filed by Potter John Harris

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Boston Public Library

More of the File Claimed by Potter John Harris

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Boston Public Library

Potter John Harris Listed in the Claims Book

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Boston Public Library

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar that Sold Online Last Night and Some Information About the Gleason Family Pottery in Genesee County, New York

One of the chapter subjects in my forthcoming two-volume western New York books, titled, America's Great Awakening and Migration: The Red Earthenware of Western New York is the production of the Gleason family in the historic Morganville section of Stafford, Genesee County, New York. Archaeology was collected at the site of this pottery business in the twentieth century by archaeologist and museum specialist George R. Hamell, whereas I studied and photographed this material for the two books while visiting the Rochester Museum & Science Center's storage department for a few days in Rochester, New York in June of 2023.

According to an archaeology report written by Hamell that was published in 1980 in Northeast Historical Archaeology, titled, Earthenwares and Salt-Glazed Stonewares of the Rochester-Genesee Valley Region: An Overview: "It has been suggested that Charles Gleason took over the pottery operation in Morganville in 1845, when he purchased the lot, on which the pottery was later known to have been located, from his uncle, Wilson Gleason, then a resident of Westmoreland, New Hampshire. Wilson Gleason had acquired the lot in 1837 from Fortunatus Gleason, Jr., his brother and the father of Charles Gleason - and that Charles Gleason had begun the manufacture of earthenware by 1846 is now confirmed. 

It has been thought that Charles Gleason's father had established the pottery at Morganville in 1828-29. Fortunatus, Jr., like his brother Lyman, had moved to Morganville from the family home in New Hampshire. There is circumstantial evidence that there was a pottery in operation in Morganville at least by 1835. However, Charles cannot be identified in the documents as a potter before 1846, nor can his father before 1850. Recent information, however, provides circumstantial evidence for Lyman Gleason's possible involvement in the Morganville Pottery prior to 1846.

Lyman and his wife, Priscilla, had moved to Morganville in 1827, and remained residents of the community through the 1830s, but by August 1840 they had become residents of Leroy, Genesee County. His occupation is unknown, although there is some suggestion in the deed records of his involvement in milling. However, by the late 1840s, Lyman and his wife had moved to Paris, Brant County, Ontario, Canada, where he established a pottery. According to the 1851 census, the pottery was "...new to this place" and the census taker went on to note "what the cause (is) I do not know, but the ware has not the finish on it that imported goods have." Gleason's Paris, Ontario pottery closed in 1857."

Interestingly, while vacationing in Western New York with my nephew Jason and niece Alexis in the summer of 2019, we visited the site of the Gleason Pottery, which is marked today by a historic marker, that reads, "Pottery & Drain Tile Factory Established Ca. 1830 By Fortunatus Gleason & Son, Charles, Of Morganville. Last Owner Was Charles Ford Ca. 1900. Excavated by R.M.S.C. 1973."

Nevertheless, the Gleason family applied various marks during the span of their business, which included variations of the words "C. Gleason" and "Morganville," as well as the mark "S. Dustin," a local druggist who ordered a number of bottles from the Gleasons. However, most of the pottery produced at the Morganville company was not marked, such as this jar that sold last night on eBay, which I suspect is a product of the Gleason family. The jar sold very reasonably for $57.00; this type of jar would have also probably originally had a lid, such as an example that is currently for sale with Massachusetts antiques dealer Sam Herrup, although it is not listed on his website.

Furthermore, some of the best collections of Gleason Pottery are found today at the Stafford Museum of History and the LeRoy, New York Historical Society.

Note: For more information about George R. Hamell - see my a feature story I recently wrote for the August 16, 2024 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly, titled, An Important Red Earthenware Jug From Western New York: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/08/new-feature-story-published-in-antiques.html.

Some Information About the Gleason Family Pottery in Genesee County, N.Y.

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Likely from Western New York

Probably Made at the Gleason Pottery in Morganville, Stafford, New York

Circa 1850s-1860s

Stands 5 1/2" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: eBay

A View of the Base

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: eBay

Similar Glazed Remains of a Red Earthenware Jar

Recovered at the Site of the Gleason Pottery in Western New York

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Rochester Museum & Science Center

Similar Glazed Remains of a Red Earthenware Jar

Recovered at the Site of the Gleason Pottery in Western New York

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Rochester Museum & Science Center

Site of the Gleason Family Pottery in Western New York

See Article for More Information

Site of the Gleason Family Pottery in Western New York

See Article for More Information

Historic Marker at the Site of the Gleason Family Pottery

See Article for More Information

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...

Another 18th or Early 19th Century Hand-Thrown Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish Possibly from Southeastern Massachusetts

As I noted in a post from earlier this week, titled, Two 18th or Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Dishes Adorned with Slip Decorated Triangles: "There are some accurately identified types of slip decorated dishes that were produced in southeastern Massachusetts (likely Bristol County), as a well as possibly some examples produced in Essex County, Massachusetts in the eighteenth and/or early nineteenth century; most of these objects have previously been published in various feature stories and books that I have written, as well as Massachusetts author Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares. However, I also want to note that there was a variety of slip decorated red earthenware made in Massachusetts before the American Revolution, although there is not a lot of evidence of this type of production happening in the coastal part of the state after 1775."

This is also a subject that deserves more of a study, seeing that slip decorated red earthenware was produced during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century period in places like Bristol County, Massachusetts and Essex County, Massachusetts. But the extent of it is not entirely known.

For instance, two days ago, I posted two eighteenth or early nineteenth century slip decorated red earthenware dishes decorated with a triangle in the center. These objects may be related to three large red earthenware jars made at the Purinton Pottery for members of the Purinton family in Bristol County, one of which is also decorated with triangles, while the other two are displayed today in the Americana Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, as part of the Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection. 

Interestingly, though, both of these dishes are hand-thrown, whereas I have shown a third example today, which I believe is related to the dishes decorated with triangles. This third dish is also hand-thrown and exhibits all of the same characteristics in form as the other dishes. 

For more information - see my fifth published book, titled, A Celebrated Industry: The Historic Wares of Southeastern Massachusetts, Bristol County and Cape Cod: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-celebrated-industry-the-historic-wares-of-southeastern-massachusetts-bristol-county-and-cape-cod/.

Note: I have also posted additional pictures showing other examples of slip decorated red earthenware, two of which (a rundlet and jar) were made in Bristol County; a third is a double-handled jar or vase, which I believe was also made in coastal Massachusetts, perhaps in the southeastern part of the state in the eighteenth or early nineteenth century.

18th or Early 19th C. Hand-Thrown Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

 18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

This Dish is Hand-Thrown

Possibly Made in Southeastern Mass., Perhaps Bristol County, Mass.

Measures 9 1/4" in Diameter

See Article for More Information

A View of the Back

See Article for More Information

 18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dishes

These Dishes are Hand-Thrown

Possibly Made in Southeastern Mass., Perhaps Bristol County, Mass.

See Article for More Information

A View of the Backs

See Article for More Information

More Post American Revolution Slip Decorated Red Earthenware from Mass.

(Top) Late 18th or Early Nineteenth Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Jar

Made in Bristol County, Massachusetts

(Middle) 18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Jar

Possibly Made in Southeastern Mass.

(Bottom) Late 18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Rundlet

Made in Bristol County, Mass.

Possibly Made at the Purinton Family Pottery

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Garrison & Diana Stradling, Antiques Associates at West Townsend and Crocker Farm

 18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

This Dish is Hand-Thrown

Probably Made in Southeastern Mass., Perhaps Bristol County, Mass.

Measures 12 3/8" in Diameter

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Hollis Brodrick

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Hollis Brodrick

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...

Two 18th or Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Dishes Adorned with Slip Decorated Triangles

I'm sure some of the longtime antiques dealers in southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod may have seen more of these types of eighteenth or early nineteenth century slip decorated red earthenware dishes through the span of their careers, although these are two of the few examples that I have seen with a triangle in the center, whether they are owned privately or found in a museum collection today. I believe this type of production might be from Bristol County, Massachusetts. The larger pan shown below was recently found in a private collection in Ohio, while the smaller example has been owned for decades in various private collections in New England.

The reason that this decoration caught my attention recently is because of a presentation or some sort of personalized slip decorated jar that sold last fall at Crocker Farm in Sparks, Maryland, which was adorned with four related triangles. That jar was inscribed twice with the initials "LP," and was likely made at the Purinton Pottery for a member of the Purinton family in Somerset, Bristol County, Massachusetts. Interestingly, whoever applied the slip on the jar appears to be the same hand that applied the slip decoration on two important Bristol County marriage jars made for George and Debby Purinton that are displayed today in the Americana Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan from the Robert A. Ellison Jr. Collection. 

It is all theory at the moment, however I want to believe that the triangle decoration means something more than just merely being a decorative motif, although the majority of the potters who were working in Bristol County during this period were Quakers. The triangle also symbolizes many different things, including the concept of feet on the earth heart in heaven, ancient wisdom, mysticness, an energetic gateway, the holy trinity spirit, along with different types of energies, etc.

Are there other examples of these types of dishes with triangles known today? I would really enjoy hearing about any other examples that are known.

For more information - see my fifth published book, titled, A Celebrated Industry: The Historic Wares of Southeastern Massachusetts, Bristol County and Cape Cod: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-celebrated-industry-the-historic-wares-of-southeastern-massachusetts-bristol-county-and-cape-cod/.

Note: I have also posted pictures of some of the accurately identified types of slip decorated dishes that were produced in southeastern Massachusetts (likely Bristol County), as a well as possibly some examples produced in Essex County, Massachusetts in the eighteenth and/or early nineteenth century. Most of these objects have previously been published in various feature stories and books that I have written, as well as Massachusetts author Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares. I also want to note that there was a variety of slip decorated red earthenware made in Massachusetts before the American Revolution, although there is not a lot of evidence of this type of production happening in the coastal part of the state after 1775.

Red Earthenware Dishes Adorned with Slip Decorated Triangles

18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

Possibly Made in Southeastern Mass., Perhaps Bristol County, Mass.

Measures 12 3/8" in Diameter

See Article for More Information

A View of the Back

See Article for More Information

(Right) Another Type of of Dish with a Triangle

Measures 9" in Diameter

See Article for More Information

Slip Decorated Pottery Made in SE Mass. and Bristol County, Mass.

18th and/or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dishes

Some Published in Early New England Potters and Their Wares

All Likely Made in Southeastern Mass., Perhaps Bristol County, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian Institute and Old Sturbridge Village

(Left) 18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Mug

Published in Early New England Potters and Their Wares

Likely Made in Southeastern Mass., Perhaps Bristol County, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at The Smithsonian Institute

(Left) A View of the Mug's Handle

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at The Smithsonian Institute

18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

Likely Made in Southeastern Mass., Perhaps Bristol County, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Little Compton, Rhode Island Historical Society

Slip Decorated Pottery Possibly Made in Essex County, Mass.

18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

Possibly Related to Archaeological Evidence Recovered in Danvers, Mass.

Possibly Made in Essex County, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village

18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish Sherd

Archaeological Evidence Recovered in Danvers, Mass.

Possibly Made in Essex County, Mass.

See Article for More Information

18th or Early 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Pan

Recovered Beneath a Dairy at the Site of the Paine House on Greenwood Farm in Ipswich, Mass.

Likely Made in Essex County, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Trustees of the Reservations

Remains of an 18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

Recovered at the Site of the African-American Meeting House in Boston

The Style of the Slip on this Pan Closely Resemble the Sherds Shown Above from Ipswich

But is also Resembles Production in Pennsylvania, etc.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Department

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...

The Hissong or Hyssong Family of Potters in Cassville, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania - Is There a Correct Spelling for Their Last Name?

I have always wondered what is the correct spelling: Hissong or Hyssong, which was a family of potters located in Cassville, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, whereas the family company was established by Elisha Hissong (1827-1901) in 1847, and production continued through his sons Austin Hissong (1851-1922), George Hissong (1854-1922), Charles "Bruce" Hissong (1867-1943) and Russell Hissong (1875-1932) until 1912. 

Interestingly, Elisha's first mark reads, "E.B. HISSONG / CASSVILL," and the majority of the censuses that cite the family from 1850-1910 indicate the family name being spelled as "Hissong," although there is an exception with the 1880 Federal Census.

But if you look at the tombstones from each of the potters from the Hissong family, along with their wives, then you will see that the last name is spelled Hyssong. Does anyone have any idea why there are two different spellings? 

For reference, the post-1847 Cassville production consisted of largely salt-glazed stoneware often with cobalt decoration, but there also appears to have been some red earthenware produced, probably in the late-1800s. One of the notable styles of production from the late nineteenth century was various stoneware forms decorated with a brown glaze and further embellished with a slip design, such as the lidded jar with twisted handles shown below.

The Hissong or Hyssong Family of Potters in Cassville, PA

Late 19th Century Brown Glazed Covered Stoneware Jar with Slip Decoration

Attributed to the Hissong or Hyssong Family in Cassville, PA

Found Decades Ago by Scott Tyson in Pennsylvania

Owned for Many Years by Greg Kramer in PA

See Article for More Information

Elisha B. Hissong Listed in the 1850 Federal Census

He is Listed as a Potter in Cassvile, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania

See Article for More Information

Elisha B. Hissong Listed in the 1860 Federal Census

He is Listed as a Potter in Cassvile, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania

See Article for More Information

Elisha B. Hissong Listed in the 1870 Federal Census

He is Listed as a Potter in Cassvile, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania

Austin L. Hissong is Also Listed an Apprentice to the Potter

George L. Hissing is Also Listed as an Apprentice to the Potter

Charles "Bruce" Hissong also Became a Potter

See Article for More Information

Elisha B. Hysong Listed in the 1880 Federal Census

He is Listed as a Potter in Cassvile, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania

Charles "Bruce" Hysong also Became a Potter

Russell Hysong also Became a Potter

But Russell is Listed with a Different Occupation in the 1900 Federal Census

See Article for More Information

Charles "Bruce" Hissong Listed in the 1910 Federal Census

He is Listed as a Potter Owning a Shop in Cassvile, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania

No Other Family Members are Listed as Potters By this Date

See Article for More Information

The Tombstones of the Hyssong Family of Potters and Their Wives

All Names are Spelled with a "Y"

See Article for More Information

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Figure of a Seated Dog Found Yesterday in Newburyport, Mass. that was Previously Owned as Part of the Lisa Whittington Collection in New Hampshire

Earlier this month, I posted a story to this website about a good stoneware crock that appeared to have been made in the Albany, New York area in the early 1800s. That object was decorated with an incised bird and flower and sold as part of the Lisa Whittington Americana Collection at William A. Smith Auctions in Plainfield, New Hampshire: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/08/a-good-example-of-early-19th-century.html.

Nevertheless, while in downtown Newburyport, Massachusetts yesterday, I came across this nineteenth century hand-modeled red earthenware figure of a seated dog decorated with a marbled slip and brown glaze; I found it in a new shop that just opened a few months ago called Smith Sullivan Antiques & Curiosities. The woman who owns the shop told me that it came out of the estate in Lisa Whittington of New Hampshire, a lifelong antiques dealer and collector, and the same Lisa Witthington whose collection just sold in New Hampshire. 

When I got home, I looked in the auction catalog and found that this dog was included in the online only sale as part of a larger group lot of ceramics, whereas it was difficult to see in the pictures how this dog actually appeared. I assume that because the dog is missing its tail is why it was sort of unlisted in a group lot. However, I think the dog is great!

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Figure of a Seated Dog Found Yesterday

My Niece Alexis Holding the Red Earthenware Dog

See Above for More Information

19th Century Hand-Modeled Figure of a Seated Dog

Owned as Part of the Lisa Whittington Collection in New Hampshire

Stands " Tall

See Above for More Information

Another View of the Dog

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Another View of the Dog

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Another View of the Dog

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Another View of the Dog

See Above for More Information

Another View of the Dog

The Tail is Missing

See Above for More Information

A View of the Base

See Above for More Information

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...