Monday, April 7, 2025

Oyster Plates Made at the New England Pottery Company in East Boston, Mass., and Some Information About Forthcoming Tenth Book

Published on pages 48-49 in the October 14, 2022 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly is a feature story I wrote, titled, The New England Pottery Company Of East Boston, Mass. This story will be expanded in my forthcoming tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, South Danvers and Peabody, Massachusetts, which I suspect will be published in late 2025 or at some point in 2026. The book will run 500-600 pages in length. As part of the book, Chapter 19 will discuss a number of nineteenth and early twentieth century potteries located in Boston and to the north of the city.

Interestingly, I recently came across an article written by Dialynn Dwyer for the July 21, 2017 issue of The Boston Globe, titled, Raw or fried? There’s more to the history of the oyster in New England than what’s on the menu: https://www.boston.com/food/history/2017/07/21/raw-or-fried-theres-more-to-the-history-of-the-oyster-in-new-england-than-whats-on-the-menu/.

The article states, "In the late 1800s, The Boston Daily Globe printed a bewildering variety of oyster recipes, instructing readers to serve them baked, stewed, curried, scalloped, with quail, in an omelette, or — for the truly adventurous — in a pancake...The abundance and popularity of oysters led to the creation of free standing “oyster houses” or “oyster saloons” in the mid-19th century, such as Boston’s Union Oyster House, where city residents of all social classes could eat a quick, inexpensive oyster lunch. The trend set the stage for modern-day oyster bars."

This was actually a nineteenth century trend that the New England Pottery Company capitalized on in East Boston in the late 1800s, whereas their production included ceramic oyster plates that competed with the important European market. 

Furthermore, production from the New England Pottery Company is displayed at art museums around America today, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Historic New England.

Interestingly, the notion of oysters in America is also a subject that has been highlighted in recent scholarship with Thomas Commeraw's stoneware production in Manhattan in the early 1800s. For more information on this subject - see Chris Pickerell's article in the 2024 issue of Ceramics in America, titled, Origins and Evolution of the Early American Oyster Jar: https://chipstone.org/issue.php/58/Ceramics-in-America-2024.

Also see Brandt Zipp's book, Commeraw's Stoneware: The Life and Work of the First African-American Pottery Ownerhttps://www.commeraw.com/.

Oyster Plates Made at the New England Pottery Company in East Boston
Late 19th Century Ceramic Oyster Plate
Made at the New England Pottery Company in East Boston, Mass.
Circa 1889-1895
Measures 9 1/4" in Diameter
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Private Collection
A View of the Mark on the Back
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Private Collection
Published in the The Boston Daily Globe on Oct. 4, 1896
See Article for More Information
Published in the The Boston Daily Globe on Oct. 4, 1896
See Article for More Information
Section About the New England Pottery Company in East Boston, Mass.
Included as Part of Chapter 19 in Forthcoming Tenth Book
See Article for More Information

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

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