In a post from yesterday, titled, A Very Interesting Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish that was Previously Owned by John Gordon of New York City, I noted a circa 1760 British marbled slip decorated earthenware dish from the collection of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. The slip decoration on this dish is very similar to an American eighteenth or early nineteenth century marbled slip decorated red earthenware dish that recently sold as part of the Dr. Richard J. Wattenmaker Collection at Freeman’s | Hindman in Philadelphia: https://hindmanauctions.com/auctions/2083-For-the-Love-of-Barnes-The-Collection-of-Dr-Richard-J-Wattenmaker/lot/207.
The British dish is said to have been made in the Midlands or to the North of England, whereas the center of the dish is marked with the initials "TM" in relief and is thought to represent the potter. Although, I was told last night by two experts in the field of British pottery that they felt the initials represented Thomas Malkin, a son of the well known Burslem, Staffordshire, England potter Samuel Malkin (1668-1741), who also initialed some of his pieces “SM” in the center.
However, this is not a style that was exclusive to the Malkin family, seeing that there were other British potters who applied initials to earthenware production. But it is not always known who the initials represent, such as an eighteenth century dish from Staffordshire, adorned in slip, "IC," which just sold last month at Brunk Auctions in North Carolina for $30,000 plus the buyer's premium: https://live.brunkauctions.com/online-auctions/brunk/rare-and-important-staffordshire-slipware-ic-bird-charger-6277777.
Interestingly, this is also a technique found with some production in Philadelphia in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, as well as with Absalom Day (1770-1843) in the 1790s and early 1800s in Norwalk, Connecticut. The way the initials are applied in these locations is not exactly the same, although the idea is similar; however, it is not known who most of the initials represent on these objects. But among the archaeological contexts that this type of American production has been recovered in the United States is a circa 1780-1820 slip decorated red earthenware dish discovered in Albany, New York that is thought to have been made in Philadelphia; the dish is owned today by the New York State Museum in Albany.
Note: I will post a follow-up article to this story sometime soon that will show an incredible example of earthenware recovered from an early eighteenth century context in Old Town Philadelphia that is comparable to some wares made by the Samuel Malkin.
In the meantime - see David G. Orr's article that was published in the 2003 issue of Ceramics in America, titled, Samuel Malkin in Philadelphia: A Remarkable Slipware Assemblage: https://www.chipstone.org/article.php/97/Ceramics-in-America-2003/Samuel-Malkin-in-Philadelphia:-A-remarkable-Slipware-Assemblage.
Some Initialed Red Earthenware from Britain and America
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