While walking around the Americana Celebration Antiques Show yesterday in Concord, New Hampshire, as part of Antiques Week in New Hampshire, I was surprised to see this nineteenth century stoneware vase, seeing that it reminded me of a newspaper account that I read about six months ago. This large vase was in the booth of Virginia antiques dealer Malcolm Magruder; I asked him if the vase retained any sort of history, and he told me that it was recently found in "Down East" Maine. Hearing that information piqued my curiosity even more, since the newspaper account was from Portland, Maine.
According to part of a story published in the October 5, 1878 issue The Portland Daily Press, titled, How We Did our Household Art., "...Well; it may be; but it gives me a sort of restless feeling. I suppose I shall get used to it, though. By-the-way, when I was down the street I saw some beautiful pottery in the shop windows - 'Beverly Pottery,' I believe they called it. Some pieces were plain, yet to be decorated; some were painted in the most stylish way; and others were covered all over with bright little things cut from paper, pasted on and varnished. Oh, how I longed for some of those pretty things to set off our apartments!..."
Nonetheless, I do not believe this vase was made at the C.A. Lawrence Pottery in Beverly, Massachusetts, but this company was heavily connected to the Portland Stone Ware Company, whereas this type of ancient production was a type of pottery also produced in Portland. As a result, I now wonder if this decoupage decoration is a decorative technique that was also applied in Portland, however, I have actually never seen a piece of Beverly Pottery decorated this way, either; this is the only account that I have ever read about that identified this as a technique produced in Beverly.
For more information - see my first published book, titled, The Beverly Pottery: The Wares of Charles A. Lawrence: https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-beverly-pottery-the-wares-of-charles-a-lawrence/.
Note: I have found some pieces in New England through the years that may have been made at the Beverly Pottery decorated with decoupage decoration, although I was never convinced the decoration was original (and I'm still not); those pieces are posted below, two of which are also published in the Beverly book.
A Decoupage Decorated Stoneware Vase Seen Yesterday in New Hampshire
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