Thrift Store Find: A 19th Century Red Earthenware Milk Pan Likely Made in Essex County, Mass.

I have always used the saying, "You never know what you might find if you don’t look!" And that certainly proved true yesterday when I surprisingly came across this nineteenth century red earthenware milk pan in the Salvation Army Thrift Store in Saugus, Massachusetts.

I suspect the pan was made locally in Essex County at either the Charles A. Lawrence Pottery in Beverly, Massachusetts or the Moses B. Paige Pottery in Peabody, Massachusetts. In fact, the Peabody Historical Society owns a late nineteenth century catalog from the M.B. Paige Pottery, where the products sold by the company include milk pans of various sizes by the dozen that are described on page three (see below). An observation about this particular milk pan is that it is more refined than a lot of the heavier thrown examples made in northern New England in the nineteenth century.

Nevertheless, this is a very cool find because it is rare to be able to say where this type of milk pan was actually made, seeing that the form was produced by potters located all over the American Northeast in the 1700s and 1800s, although considering the context (the pan was donated from a local home) I feel confident that this pan was made in either Beverly or Peabody, circa 1870s-1890s. But there was also a lot of earlier production in Peabody too; i.e. Joseph Reed Pottery, Osborn family, Southwick family, etc.

For those who want to know what I paid - $12.99 plus Massachusetts sales tax!

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/.

Also see my second published book, titled, The Moses B. Paige Company: The Last of the Peabody Potteries: https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-moses-b-paige-company-the-last-of-the-peabody-potteries/.

Note: The M.B. Paige Pottery will also be a subject discussed in my 709-page New Hampshire book that will be available to purchase later this month, titled, An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses, seeing that all sorts of pottery from this business was shipped to various areas in New Hampshire in the late 1800s.

19th C. Red Earthenware Milk Pan Likely Made in Essex County, Mass.

19th Century Red Earthenware Milk Pan Probably from Essex County, Mass.
Probably Made in Either Beverly, Mass. or Peabody, Mass.
Probably Circa 1870s-1890s
Measures 15 3/4" in Diameter
Donated from a Local Home 

See Article for More Information

Another View of the Milk Pan

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A View of the Back of the Milk Pan

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1890s Catalog from the M.B. Paige Pottery in Peabody, Mass.

This Information is Found on Page 3 of the Catalog

The Business is Selling Red Earthenware Milk Pans by the Dozen

The Pans Come in Different Sizes

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Historical Society

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