A few days ago I posted a story about the Dodge Pottery in Portland, Maine and how some wares made at this business in the nineteenth century were mistaken for production by Thomas Truxton Kendrick (1803-1878) in Hollis, Maine. I believe this attribution began in the late 1970s; the basis for it was some wares displayed at the Maine State Museum in Augusta, Maine, as well as a red earthenware pan published in Manlif Lelyn Branin's 1978 book, The Early Potters and Potteries of Maine.
Branin described the pan as "Redware Pudding Pan. Made at the Kendrick Pottery at Hollis Center, the pan is tan with brushed on brown spots and is owned by descendants of the potter."
It is unclear where this pan is located today, although when working on my seventh book, titled, From One Town Came Many: The Red Earthenware Industry of Ancient North Yarmouth, Maine, the Kendrick family of Maine informed me that the only object they knew about as being made at the Kendrick Pottery was a mug owned by Kathleen Kendrick.
Furthermore, archaeology sites that I have studied in recent years in Maine have revlealed this type of glaze was produced at a number of nineteenth century red earthenware businesses, and is not unique to any location or single potter's business in the state of Maine.
In fact, this type of glaze was also produced in Western New York, Ontario, Canada, among other locations. Nonetheless, I suspect this is how the Dodge Pottery wares from Portland were mistaken decades ago for production in Hollis because of using the glaze as a means of attribution. The form is usually the first indicator of when trying to determine where an object was made followed by other characteristics.
The Origin of the 19th Century "Thomas Kendrick" Attribution in Maine
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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