19th Century Red Earthenware from Hagerstown, Maryland, Nathaniel Rochester's Western New York Business and the Index of American Design, Etc.

For anyone who has never checked it out before - the online database of the Index of American Design is a noteworthy resource displaying thousands of works of art painted for the National Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in the 1930s and early 1940s. By definition: the Index of American Design was a Depression-era WPA Federal Art Project (1936-1942) that employed artists to create over 18,000 detailed watercolor illustrations of American folk and decorative arts objects, from colonial times through 1900, to document the nation's design heritage, now housed at the National Gallery of Art as a visual archive of American material culture.

This is a database that I always reference for all of the books that I have written, which was the case last week for my forthcoming two-volume, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, South Danvers, Peabody and Salem, Massachusetts. 

Nonetheless, while scrolling through the images of the works of art - I came across this watercolor of a nineteenth century multi-color slip decorated red earthenware pitcher. It was painted by Eugene Shellady in 1936. There is no accompanying information, although the pitcher closely resembles some types associated with the early potters in Hagerstown, Maryland. For instance, a very similar pitcher sold at Crocker Farm in Maryland in 2019 adorned with a very similar slip technique: https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2019-10-26/lot-153/Very-Rare-Early-Hagerstown-Redware-Pitcher-possibly-Peter-Bell-or-John-Bell/.

Interestingly, it is documented that Nathaniel Rochester's (1752-1831) circa 1818-1831 red earthenware business in West Bloomfield, New York shares some characteristics with slip techniques manufactured in Hagerstown. The potter or potters who worked for Rochester has never been identified, but he did come from Hagerstown so the transition of Hagerstown type wares migrating north is certainly feasible. 

Nonetheless, for more information - 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/.

Note: I also wrote a feature story for the June 7, 2024 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly, titled, Nathaniel Rochester's Red Earthenware Pottery: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/05/new-published-feature-story-in-antiques.html.

19th Century Red Earthenware Pitchers Likely from Hagerstown, Maryland

19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Pitcher

Painted by Eugene Shellady for the Index of American Design in 1936

Likely Made in Hagerstown, Maryland

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institution

19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Pitcher

Likely Made in Hagerstown, Maryland

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm

19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Handled Pot Made in Western New York

Made at the Nathaniel Rochester Pottery in West Bloomfield, New York

Cica 1818-1831

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Personal Collection of Nancy and Gene Pratt

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