A Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Pot Recovered from the Site of William Henry Harrison's Army Camp Near Mansfield, Ohio

Among the most surprising artifacts that I have come across (and there have been many) while working on my forthcoming two-volume Western New York book, titled, America's Great Awakening and Migration: The Red Earthenware of Western New York is a slip decorated red earthenware pot recovered in Ohio. The pot was illustrated in an article written by Rhea Mansfield Knittle and published in the October 1933 issue of The Magazine Antiques, titled, Ohio Pottery Jars and Jugs, although I have no idea where this object resides today. But I believe the pot was made in Western New York, where it also retains a fascinating context of ownership.

While growing up in Virginia, Nathaniel Rochester’s (1752-1831) childhood friend was James Monroe (1758-1831), who was elected President of the United States from 1817-1825. It does not appear that Rochester had any relationship with William Henry Harrison (1773-1841), who was President in 1841, but this slip decorated red earthenware pot was recovered by archaeologists (I think they were archaeologists?) in the twentieth century near Mansfield, Ohio, from the site of where Harrison’s army camped during the Maumee Valley Indian campaign. 

Furthermore, a similar pot is owned by the Rochester Museum & Science Center in Rochester, New York, which is thought to have been made at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery; Rochester owned a red earthenware company from the circa 1818-1831 period in West Bloomfield, New York.

For more information about Nathaniel Rochester's pottery business - see a  feature story I wrote published on pages 42-43 in the June 7, 2024 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly, titled, Nathaniel Rochester's Red Earthenware Pottery: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/05/new-published-feature-story-in-antiques.html.

Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Pot Recovered Near Mansfield, Ohio

19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Pot Recovered Near Mansfield, Ohio

Recovered from the Site of William Henry Harrison's Army Camp

A Similar Object is Owned by the Rochester Museum & Science Center

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Photo Courtesy: October 1933, The Magazine Antiques

19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Pot Made in Western New York

Possibly Made at Nathaniel Rochester's Business in West Bloomfield, New York

A Similar Pot was Recovered Near Mansfield, Ohio

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Rochester Museum & Science Center

Another View of the Pot

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Photo Courtesy: Rochester Museum & Science Center

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