A Red Earthenware Plate with Script that Reads "Oysters" and a Forthcoming Baltimore Red Earthenware Feature Story

I thought this was a really interesting nineteenth century red earthenware plate that sold yesterday at Russum's Auctioneers in Sudlersvile, Maryland. The script reading, "Oysters," which is a subject that has gained a lot of recognition in recent years with Thomas Commeraw's (ca. 1771-1823) stoneware production in Manhattan, as well as thanks to the research of Chris Pickerell, who just wrote an article for 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.

According to an article written in 1996 by Clyde L. MacKenzie, Jr. for Marine Fisheries Review, titled, History of Oystering in the United States and Canada, Featuring the Eight Greatest Oyster Estuaries, "During the 1800s and much of the 1900s, oyster production was centered in the Chesapeake Bay in the Mid-Atlantic, including parts of the eastern shore of Maryland, with lesser landings primarily in eastern Canada, Long Island Sound and Delaware Bay."

Nevertheless, my next feature story in Maine Antiques Digest will be out in the next two months and it covers circa 1763-1850 red earthenware production Baltimore, a subject that is not well documented today. The story is about 2,350 words long and it will include about forty pictures, much of which is material that has been recovered in Baltimore over the past few decades.

A Red Earthenware Plate with Script that Reads "Oysters"

19th Century Red Earthenware Plate with Script that Reads "Oysters"

Measures 7 1/4" in Diameter

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Photo Courtesy: Russom's Auctioneers

A View of the Back of the Plate

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Photo Courtesy: Russom's Auctioneers

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