A Comparison of Colonial Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds Recovered in Marblehead, Mass. and Faneuil Hall in Boston

Earlier this month, I posted an article to this website, titled, Some Important Circa 1690-1750 Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds Recovered in Marblehead, Massachusetts; among the sherds shown in that article was an example adorned with a crossing slip decoration, which I speculated may have been made locally in the Danvers and Salem, Massachusetts area, based on the style of the other sherds that were recovered. 

Colonial Red Earthenware Handle and Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Sherd

Discovered on the Property of the Lee Mansion in Marblehead, Massachusetts

Recovered from a Circa 1690-1750 Archaeological Context

Likely a Local Manufacturer

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Property of the Marblehead Museum

Nonetheless, this eighteenth century slip decorated red earthenware sherd with a crossing technique was recovered by archaeologists within a pre-1742 archaeological context at Faneuil Hall in Boston. It may have been made in Charlestown, although it is unclear if these sherds are from the same potter's business, seeing that some potters did relocate from Charlestown to the Danvers and Salem area in the late seventeenth and eighteenth century; Kettle, Symonds, etc. But it is certainly a noteworthy comparison! There were definitely similarities in production at both locations before the American Revolution. 

However, the future of Charlestown's red earthenware industry was altered forever at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, while production in the Danvers area flourished before and after the Revolutionary War. 

Note: For more information - see my third published book, titled, The Dawn of Independence, the Death of An Industry: The Pottery of Charlestown, Massachusetts: https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-dawn-of-independence-the-death-of-an-industry/.

18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Sherd

Recovered from a Pre-1742 Archaeological Context at Faneuil Hall in Boston

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: City of Boston Archaeology Program

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