I have had some discussions with a friend recently about restoration and preservation of red earthenware and stoneware, where I typically leave pottery as is, seeing that the condition is often a part of the object's history. I do not necessarily agree with restoring pottery just so it has a perfect look to it, although there are always exceptions. It is a subjective subject, though.
In the case of this large nineteenth century slip decorated jar; this is one those exceptions. This may have been a presentation object when it was originally made since I do not believe there is another object in existence like it today, otherwise it was likely made for a specific reason.
Nonetheless, a friend gave me this jar nearly ten years ago, although it was severely damaged, having been dropped many years back and broken into a number of pieces. However, it is an important piece of slip decorated red earthenware, so I had to save it.
But rather than having the jar entirely restored to perfection, I had it professionally conserved by a professional in New York; the jar was basically entirely there so it had to be pieced back together. The interior was not restored so when someone views the inside of the jar there are lines that can be seen from the different ways that it broke.
The significance of this jar is in the slip decoration, which reveals different styles of slip, some of which is raised, a very unusual technique for American production, while there are also lines drawn into the clay that were then infilled with slip. The decoration includes different types of birds and flowers, such as two eagles, a peacock and tulips, etc.
Furthermore, I believe this is a significant piece of upstate New York red earthenware, perhaps related to a nineteenth century slip script decorated red earthenware jar from Champion, New York that is owned today by the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Note: For more information - see a feature story I wrote for the February 28, 2020 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly, titled, Early Pottery Manufactured In Champion, New York: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2020/02/new-published-research-story-early.html.
Also see my recently published two-volume, ninth book, titled, America’s Great Awakening and Migration: The Red Earthenware of Western New York: https://historicbeverly.net/product/americas-great-awakening-and-migration-the-red-earthenware-of-western-new-york/.
A Great 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Jar
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