A Rare 19th Century Brown Glazed Stoneware Soap Dish Bearing an Inscription on the Base

It is perhaps not the most desirable form amongst collectors today, although a soap dish was included as part of many red earthenware and stoneware potters production output in America in the nineteenth century; there were even shaving bowls and mugs produced in the United States in the 1800s, which often included a smaller bowl that held a bar a soap.

Some of the potters who produced this type of form were the John Bell Pottery in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, and Jacob Heart in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where one example made by Heart just sold at Crocker Farm in Sparks, Maryland for $225 plus the buyer's premium. I believe the record for a soap dish made by John Bell is one that sold at Crocker Farm in 2021 for $2,160, including the buyer's premium, whereas another example sold in a group lot in 2016 at DuMouchelle's in Detroit for $5,000, plus the buyer's premium. 

Nonetheless, some people may recognize the base of this soap dish, seeing that I posted a picture of it to my Facebook page about a week ago in search of help with the inscription on the base. This ornate brown glazed stoneware soap dish was found 30-40 years ago in Maine, and some previous speculation has suggested that it may have been made in Portland, Maine; along the edge of the soap dish is adorned with a swag and tassel decoration.

However, I cannot find any record or evidence that this form was made in Portland, where I have not ruled out the possibility of the soap dish having been made in New York or the Midwest. 

But the base of the soap dish is what perplexed a number of people, although the majority seems to think the scratched inscription reads in part, "H.P. Lau / 1881." 

Furthermore, it is unclear if this inscription provides a connection, but H.P. Lau & Company was a major wholesale grocery and fruit business based in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

According to the Nebraska Historical Society, "Hans Peter Lau (1845/46-1897) was a German immigrant, born in Fleusburg, Germany, who began his grocery business in the late 1860s with a single box of lemons. After his death in 1897 his widow Friedericke (1849-1943) led the company in constructing a three story, 48,000 square foot warehouse and office, designed by Cox & Schoentgen of Council Bluffs, Iowa. Especially noteworthy are the dark red terra cotta trim of the lower stories and subtle corbelling (stepping) out of the brickwork at the top of the walls to form a cornice.

The Lau Building was served by rail spurs (or a railway branch line) on both the east and west sides, where the company served five different states. The west, midblock spur was enclosed within an addition in 1906, which housed the coffee roasting plant of the Lau Co.'s "Milady” brand. For nearly two decades these buildings were also used in Russell Stover Candy Company's Haymarket operation."

Additionally, if this inscription does represent H.P. Lau's business in Lincoln, then this soap dish may have been made at the Lincoln, Nebraska Pottery Works; also according to the Nebraska Historical Society, "The Lincoln Pottery Works made crocks, jugs, and other ceramic goods at a factory on South First Street in Lincoln from about 1880 until sometime after 1900. Archeologists excavated the site during the summer of 1986 (where a large assemblage of brown glazed stoneware artifacts were recovered)."

A Rare 19th Century Brown Glazed Stoneware Soap Dish

19th Century Brown Glazed Stoneware Soap Dish with Ornate Decoration

Part of the Inscription on the Base Appears to Read "H.P. Lau / 1881..."

Circa 1881

Measures 5 5/8" Across

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A View of the Interior

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This is the Inscription on the Base of the Soap Dish

Part of the Inscription on the Base Appears to Read "H.P. Lau / 1881..."

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