Two Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dishes Retaining Histories of 19th Century Ownership in Massachusetts

An eighteenth century potter by the name of Joseph Wilson advertised in Providence, Rhode Island in 1767 that he was producing red earthenware similar to the types manufactured in Philadelphia, which must have been viewed as a fashionable production center before the American Revolution. Wilson and his family will be a subject of a chapter in my forthcoming 700-900 page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, South Danvers, Peabody and Salem Massachusetts, seeing that the Wilsons were a family of potters in South Danvers. But Joseph left South Danvers in the early 1760s, arriving in Dedham, Massachusetts by 1764, and then Providence by 1767. 

I have also speculated that since the Wilsons were Quakers, whether there was any connection between Quakers and Wilson's advertisement. For instance, earlier this week I showed how Phebe Osborn Shove (1720-1775) was in Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania in 1773, which was the location of the first Quaker Meeting House in Pennsylvania.  The Colony of Pennsylvania was founded by William Penn in 1682, as a safe place for Quakers to live and practice their faith. Quakers held their first religious meeting at Upland (now Chester) in 1675, and they came to Pennsylvania in great numbers after William Penn (1644-1718) received his Charter. This is all expanded upon in my forthcoming book, but slip decorated red earthenware likely from Philadelphia was recovered as part of the late seventeenth and eighteenth century New Sweden settlement in present-day Wilmington, Delaware, which is located along the Delaware River about fifteen miles to the south of Chester. Some of this Philadelphia pottery may have also made its way into Chester and used at or around the Quaker Meeting House in late seventeenth and eighteenth century; perhaps it was a style of red earthenware that the Quakers were really impressed with: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2025/05/a-quaker-historical-record-placing.html.

Nevertheless, there are two fascinating examples of late eighteenth and/or early nineteenth century slip decorated red earthenware in the collections of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem and the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Both of these objects will be published in my forthcoming book, whereas I suspect they were both made in Philadelphia.

These objects also retain very interesting histories of nineteenth century ownership; the plate shown on the top appeared in Salem during the area’s China and East India Trade during the late eighteenth and nineteenth century. This dish is also similar to one displayed today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. 

The plate shown on the bottom was owned by the Wing family of Bristol County, Massachusetts, who owned one of the largest whaling firms in the United States, based out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Although, the family’s company was primarily a clothing and dry goods supplier for New Bedford’s whaling industry in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. 

Note: Here is a link to a slip decorated dish that is similar to the examples owned by the Peabody Essex Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which sold at Crocker Farm in the summer of 2023: https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2023-08-04/lot-168/Fine-Philadelphia-Redware-Plate-18th-century/.

Red Earthenware Dishes Retaining Histories of 19th Century Ownership in Mass.

Red Earthenware Dishes Retaining Histories of 19th Century Ownership in Mass.

Possibly Made in Philadelphia, Circa Late 18th and/or Early 19th Century

Top Retains History of Ownership in Salem, Mass.

Bottom Retains History of Ownership in Bristol County, Mass.

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Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum & New Bedford Whaling Museum

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