Update on New Two-Volume Book: Book Sent to Publisher for Proofing!

For anyone anticipating my forthcoming two-volume, 1,892-page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts, the book is finished and was sent to my publisher today, Historic Beverly in Massachusetts for proofing. I actually met with the director of the museum this afternoon, and the goal is to have the book published sometime in late February or March.

This is also my favorite book so far in the ten part series; the two volumes cover all local history from the 1620s to about 1950. It is a massive amount of information. Interestingly, my publisher is also involved with Ken Burns' new documentary American Revolution.

Here is how the back cover of each volume will read --

Volume I - 911 Pages

Back Cover Information: The Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts area has a deep-rooted history, dating back to the seventeenth century, perhaps best-known today for the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and Salem’s maritime trade in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. However, the area was also the location of one of New England’s most important red earthenware industries, dating back to the 1600s. The area’s pottery businesses were also intertwined with red earthenware production in Charlestown, Massachusetts before the American Revolution, and the industry in Bristol County, Massachusetts, as well as other parts of New England. This book is the first of its kind to explore the red earthenware produced in this part of coastal Massachusetts through archaeology, historical records and surviving objects.

Volume II - 981 Pages

Back Cover Information: The Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts area has a rich history of Quakers, many of whom were intertwined with local red earthenware production, as well as Quaker potters living elsewhere in New England. The early history of these Quakers is marked by persecution, although it took a long time, but they were eventually met with acceptance. This area was also home to some potters in Salem after 1750, as well as migrants, who influenced local production from France, Germany, Italy and Portugal. This book is the first of its kind to explore the red earthenware produced in this part of coastal Massachusetts through archaeology, historical records and surviving objects.

Update on New Two-Volume Book: Book Sent to Publisher for Proofing!

This is My Publisher Historic Beverly in Beverly, Mass.

The Museum is also Involved with Ken Burns' New American Revolution Documentary

See Article for More Information

Front and Back Cover Photos for the Two Volumes of the New Book

See Article for More Information

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

A Preview of Forthcoming Tenth Book: A Late 18th or 19th Century Green Glazed Red Earthenware Sugar Bowl

This is a late eighteenth or nineteenth century green glazed red earthenware sugar bowl that I acquired years ago from Robesonia, Pennsylvania antiques dealer Greg Kramer, which also retains a reported lengthy history of ownership in southeastern Pennsylvania. But it also retains part of an old twentieth century note that reads “…The above was written by mother about 1925, making this crock now (1947) 147 years old.”

However, I have always felt that this bowl more likely originated further to the south, perhaps in the northeast Tennessee area or somewhere along the Great Road. Nonetheless, this bowl will be included in a section about the sugar trade in eighteenth and nineteenth century America in Volume I of my forthcoming two-volume, 1,604 page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/update-on-new-book-forthcoming-two.html.

For those of you interested in my new book, I will be meeting with my publisher on Tuesday, and hopefully the proof copy will be ordered then. I am anticipating a February or March 2026 publication date. Stay tuned for more details!

A Late 18th or 19th Century Green Glazed Red Earthenware Sugar Bowl

Late 18th or 19th Century Green Glazed Red Earthenware Sugar Bowl

Possibly Made Along the Great Road

Perhaps Made in Northeast Tennessee

See Article for More Information

A View of One of the Handles

There is a Strong Finger Impression at the Handle Terminal

See Article for More Information

A View of the Interior of the Bowl and the Old Note

See Article for More Information

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

New Published Feature Story in Antiques & Auctions News - An Examination Of Presentation Stoneware: A Look At Two Lesser-Known American Items

My latest feature story is published on pages 7-8 in the current January 30, 2026 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, An Examination Of Presentation Stoneware: A Look At Two Lesser-Known American Items.

Link to a PDF of page 7: https://www.scribd.com/document/986008076/ant-007-013026-page-7

Link to a PDF of page 8: https://www.scribd.com/document/986007791/ant-008-013026-page-8

New Published Feature Story in Antiques & Auctions News

An Examination Of Presentation Stoneware: A Look At Two Lesser-Known American Items

Published in Jan. 30, 2026 Issue of Antiques & Auction News

This is Page 7

See Above for More Information

An Examination Of Presentation Stoneware: A Look At Two Lesser-Known American Items

Published in Jan. 30, 2026 Issue of Antiques & Auction News

This is Page 8

See Above for More Information

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

19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Bulb Pot Sells at Nye & Company in New Jersey

A bulb planter is perhaps one of the rarest forms to find today in nineteenth century American red earthenware, which was used for forcing bulbs, growing shallow-rooted plants, or starting seedlings. Two examples of this form are owned today by Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and the Philadelphia Art Museum.

According to Historic Deerfield, "The pot or planter would have been filled with dirt and onion bulbs or sets. As the onions grew, the green shoots would push out of the holes and cooks could trim them adding the shoots to dishes. "

Nonetheless, this nineteenth century slip decorated example was likely made in southeastern Pennsylvania; it sold earlier this week as part of the collection of Leslie and Peter Warwick at Nye & Company in Bloomfield, New Jersey for $4,250 plus the buyer's premium: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/223485943_redware-bulb-jar-bloomfield-nj. This pot also likely had a detached red earthenware saucer with a similar glaze.

Here are links to a few other bulb pots that have sold in recent years at Crocker Farm in Sparks, Maryland: 

1) https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2020-12-04/lot-308/Extremely-Rare-Redware-Bulb-Pot-probably-William-Eby-Conestogo-Ontario-Canada/

2) https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2016-10-22/lot-350/Very-Unusual-Redware-Bulb-Pot-with-Yellow-Slip-and-Manganese-Decoration/

Note: For more information about other pieces of red earthenware and stoneware that sold from the Warwick Collection - see the auction catalog: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/402570_the-collection-of-leslie-and-peter-warwick/.

For additional information about the Warwick Collection - see an article posted to this website in January 2025 about a stoneware jug from New Jersey known as the "Jersey Devil" that sold at Sotheby's in New York City: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2025/01/nathaniel-rochesters-merchant-business.html.

19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Bulb Pot 

19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Bulb Pot

Probably Made in Southeastern Pennsylvania

Stands 7 3/4" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Nye & Company

Other Examples of 19th Century American Bulb Pots

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Historic Deerfield and Philadelphia Art Museum

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

New Feature Story Published in Antiques And The Arts Weekly: Recently Recovered From A River In New Hampshire - A 1793 Red Earthenware Pan Helps Write History

This is my latest feature story published on page 10 in the current January 23, 2026 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly, titled, Recently Recovered From A River In New Hampshire - A 1793 Red Earthenware Pan Helps Write History.

Here is a link to a PDF of the story: https://www.scribd.com/document/984446630/0123-D-010-ANA-Rollinsford-NH

New Feature Story Published in Antiques And The Arts Weekly

New Published Feature Story

Recently Recovered From A River In New Hampshire - A 1793 Red Earthenware Pan Helps Write History

Published in the Jan. 10, 2026 Issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly

See Article for More Information

New Published Feature Story

Recently Recovered From A River In New Hampshire - A 1793 Red Earthenware Pan Helps Write History

Published in the Jan. 10, 2026 Issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly

See Article for More Information

New Published Feature Story

Recently Recovered From A River In New Hampshire - A 1793 Red Earthenware Pan Helps Write History

Published in the Jan. 10, 2026 Issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly

See Article for More Information

New Published Feature Story

Recently Recovered From A River In New Hampshire - A 1793 Red Earthenware Pan Helps Write History

Published in the Jan. 10, 2026 Issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly

See Article for More Information

This is the Jan. 10, 2026 Issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly

See Article for More Information

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

Some Information Included in Forthcoming Tenth Book: Japan's Influence on Design in the Beverly and Salem, Mass. Area After 1860

This is another subject that will be included in my forthcoming two-volume, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/update-on-new-book-forthcoming-two.html.

"...There was no significant trade between Japan and America before 1853 because Japan enforced a strict isolationist policy (Sakoku) for over 200 years under the Tokugawa Shogunate, limiting foreign contact to only the Dutch and Chinese in Nagasaki to prevent foreign influence, Christianity, and challenges to their rule, a policy challenged by America's growing Pacific presence and need for coaling stations for steamships. The Tokugawa Shogunate (1603–1867) was Japan's last feudal military government, established by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) after a century of civil war, ushering in over 250 years of peace and stability known as the Edo Period, characterized by centralized rule, strict social hierarchy (samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant), isolationist policies (Sakoku), flourishing urban life, and cultural developments, before its overthrow by the Meiji Restoration in 1868.

Trade between America and Japan began after Commodore Matthew Perry's (1794-1858) 1853 expedition forced Japan out of isolation, leading to the Treaty of Kanagawa in 1854 which opened ports, and was further formalized by the 1858 Treaty of Amity and Commerce, establishing formal commercial ties for American merchants.

After 1860, Japan's opening to trade spurred a "Japanism" craze in places like Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts, which fueled cultural exchange and artistic inspiration (Japanism) through imported prints and goods, even as Salem's deep-water port decline limited direct large-scale commerce, leading to growth in educational ties and cultural fascination rather than primary economic dominance, solidifying Massachusetts' early interest in Japan.

This created a niche market for importers and retailers, and it also influenced some production at Charles A. Lawrence’s (1829-1904) Pottery in Beverly in the late nineteenth century, which is discussed in Chapter 20 in Volume II of this book..."

Note: For more information about Japanese inspired pottery made at the C.A. Lawrence Pottery - see my first published book, title, The Beverly Pottery: The Wares of Charles A. Lawrence: https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-beverly-pottery-the-wares-of-charles-a-lawrence/.

Also see a feature story I wrote that was published on page 28-29 in the January 10, 2025 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly, titled, Japanese Design Influence On Painted Red Earthenware In Late Nineteenth Century Beverly, Mass.: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2025/01/new-published-feature-story-in-antiques_5.html.

Some Information Included in Forthcoming Tenth Book

(Left) Japanese Water Drop Earthenware Teapot Sherds

Recovered in Circa 1870 Archaeological Contexts in Essex County, Mass.

Top was Recovered in Salem, Mass.

Bottom was Recovered in Newbury, Mass.

(Right) Late 19th Century Red Earthenware Jug Painted with Japanese Type Design

Made at the C.A. Lawrence Pottery in Beverly, Mass.

See Article for More information

Photo Courtesy: National Park Service, Boston University and Historic Beverly

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

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Plate Adorned with a Bust of George Washington Made in Bergen County, New Jersey

A good example of nineteenth century red earthenware from Bergen County, New Jersey recently sold on eBay; the object's history of ownership is not known, although it came out of Rhode Island.

Nonetheless, this red earthenware plate is adorned with a central relief medallion bust of George Washington in profile with an arch of thirteen stars above the portrait and the name, "WASHINGTON" written below. It was made around the mid-1820s, which is when the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), a French hero of the American Revolution, returned to the United States for a year-long "farewell tour" at the invitation of President James Monroe (1758-1831). This visit, marking the 50th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution, was a triumphant homecoming, with Lafayette visiting all 24 states and being celebrated with parades, dinners, and commemorations. This type of production was also northern New Jersey's version of the better-known "Lafayette" and "Washington & Lafayette" slip script platters and plates made in Norwalk, Connecticut during the same period.

According to the Bergen County Historical Society, "Red earthenware pie plates are counted among the most treasured heirlooms of the New Jersey Dutch...Two celebrated Hackensack Valley potters, Henry Van Saun (d. 1829) and George Wolfkiel (1805-1867), produced pie plates at their pottery back shop, situated between Old Bridge (River Edge), New Jersey and New Bridge, New Jersey. This type of political production is associated with Van Saun's employment in Bergen County."

The plate sold for $1,676 plus any additional fees.

For more information about production in Bergen County or New York City - see these feature stories that I wrote for various publications in recent years: 

1) October 2018 issue of Maine Antique Digest - The Red Earthenware Available in the 18th and 19th Centuries in New York City: https://www.scribd.com/document/389852699/The-Red-Earthenware-Available-in-the-18th-and-19th-Centuries-in-New-York-City

2) January 31, 2020 issue of Antiques & the Arts Weekly - Early Red Earthenware & Stoneware Found on Staten Island: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2020/01/early-red-earthenware-and-stoneware.html

3) April 30, 2020 Untapped New York - A Look Inside the NYC Archaeological Repository for City's Earliest Pottery: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2020/04/new-york-city-red-earthenware-story.html

Plate Adorned with a Bust of George Washington Made in Bergen County, N.J.

19th C. Red Earthenware Plate Attributed to Henry Jacob Van Saun in River Edge, N.J.

Features a Profile of George Washington in the Center Surrounded by 13 Stars

Manufactured to Commemorate Marquis de Lafayette's Visit to Hackensack, N.J. in 1825

Circa 1824-1826

Measures 11" in Diameter

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: eBay

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

Some 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Recovered in Plymouth, Massachusetts

The historical context of the Bradford Pottery in Kingston, Massachusetts is comparable to that of the Symonds family in Salem, Massachusetts, which is best known today for the furniture they manufactured in the seventeenth century, such as an important chest selling later this month at Sotheby's in Manhattan: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2026/important-americana-2/the-highly-important-symon-and-rebeckah-horne.

As I have previously mentioned - the Bradford family's eighteenth and nineteenth century red earthenware production in Kingston will be included in my forthcoming two-volume, 1,660-page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/update-on-new-book-forthcoming-two.html.

This is an excerpt from Chapter 12 in the forthcoming book, "...While Plymouth, Massachusetts did not have the deep-water port necessary to be a primary location for the large clipper ships that participated in the Massachusetts China Trade in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, its merchants were involved with a maritime economy, in some ways comparable to Marblehead, Massachusetts. It was places like Salem, Boston and New Bedford, Massachusetts that were the primary hubs for the state’s China Trade.

Nonetheless, by 1807, there were more than seventy vessels from Plymouth that were involved with foreign trade. Overall, though, Plymouth was self-sufficient through farming, fishing and regional trade.

There is some archaeological evidence of Chinese porcelain recovered from early nineteenth century contexts in the Plymouth area, although archaeological investigations in Plymouth County have primarily focused on seventeenth century colonial sites. The ceramic assemblage from these sites reveals imported European artifacts that were also found in sites in Salem, as well as the Boston area (i.e. Charlestown, etc.), such as seventeenth century northern Italian marbled slip decorated red earthenware (see Chapter 7 in Volume I of this book for more information), North Devon sgraffito decorated red earthenware, Staffordshire slip decorated earthenware, tin glaze earthenware, and Westerwald, German stoneware, among other ceramics found in pre-1775 contexts.

This imported pottery is also the types that would have been used in local homes alongside the eighteenth century red earthenware made by John Bradford (1732-1818) in Kingston. There is little evidence of it, but the early wares made by Bradford may have included slip decorated red earthenware, such as some these archaeological examples recovered from eighteenth century contexts in Plymouth. However, some of the contexts also predate Bradford, where these objects may be related to other coastal colonial Massachusetts potters..."

Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Recovered in Plymouth, Mass.

18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware

All Recoverd from Various Contexts in Plymouth, Mass.

For More Info. - See 2017 Issue of Ceramics in America, "Plymouth, Massachusetts": https://chipstone.org/article.php/778/Ceramics-in-America-2017/Plymouth,-Massachusetts

Also See - A Cubberd, Four Joyne Stools & Other Smalle Things: The Material Culture of Plymouth Colony: https://www.mullenbooks.com/pages/books/114837/brian-cullity-chief-curator/a-cubberd-four-joyne-stools-other-smalle-thinges-the-material-culture-of-plymouth-colony-and?soldItem=true

See Article for More Information

Note: For more information about the Bradford family businesses – see my fifth book, titled, A Celebrated Industry: The Historic Wares of Southeastern Massachusetts, Bristol County and Cape Cod: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-celebrated-industry-the-historic-wares-of-southeastern-massachusetts-bristol-county-and-cape-cod/.

Also see a feature story I wrote for the May 2019 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, The Bradford Family Potteries in Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2019/04/the-bradford-family-potteries-in.html.

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

Some More Information About the Bradford Pottery in Kingston, Mass. that Will be Published in Forthcoming Tenth Book

One of the best examples of red earthenware produced at the Bradford Pottery in Kingston, Massachusetts is owned by the Colonel Ashley House in Ashfield, Massachusetts. This colorfully glazed pitcher was published in the my eighth book, titled, An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses: https://historicbeverly.net/product/an-influential-family-of-early-potters-the-clarks-of-new-hampshire-and-related-businesses/.

The Bradfords were a significant family of potters, where production spanned around 100 or more years, manufacturing some of the most dynamic and vibrant glazed red earthenware made anywhere in New England in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Interestingly, some of the family's production was erroneously attributed to other locations in the twentieth century, such as Maine, however archaeology has helped clear up this information that is kept today at Plimouth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

As I posted in a story the other day, titled, A Preview of Forthcoming Two-Volume Tenth Book: Some Archaeology Recovered in Peabody, Mass.: "...The Bradford family in Kingston, Massachusetts, who were descendants of Governor William Bradford (1590-1657), although they were not Quakers but Pilgrim Separatists and members of the established "orthodox" church.

The family patriarch was a leading figure in the Scrooby Separatist congregation who fled England to the Netherlands and then to North America aboard the Mayflower in 1620 to escape religious persecution from the Church of England. He was a key author of the Mayflower Compact and was elected governor of Plymouth Colony many times.

The origin of the Bradford family pottery can be traced back to John Bradford (1732-1818), who reportedly began producing bricks and perhaps red earthenware, sometime around 1750 on his property in Kingston, a small coastal community in Plymouth County, which neighbors Plymouth, Massachusetts to the north. The family pottery then passed through multiple generations of ownership well into the nineteenth century, where multiple kilns were operated, and a family business was eventually established on Cape Cod in the 1800s..."

Family Tree of the Bradford Family of Potters in Massachusetts

See Article for More Information

Production in Barnstable on Cape Cod appears to have been similar to some of the forms and glazes produced in Kingston, which may have included a green glaze that was similar to the greens produced by the Quaker potters in Bristol County, Massachusetts. This green glaze is documented in both archaeology, as well as existing objects owned by the Major John Bradford House in Kingston.

The Bradfords also appear to have employed some potters in the 1800s, such as Peleg Simmons (1818-1907), who was cited as a 31-year-old "Potter" in the 1850 United States Federal Census in Kingston. He likely worked at Stephen Bradford's (1807-1866) business, which was located a short distance from the Jones River.

Peleg Simmons (1818-1907) Listed as a "Potter" in Kingston, Mass.

This is from the 1850 United States Federal Census

See Article for More Information

The Location of Stephen Bradford's (1771-1837) Business in Kington, Mass.

This is from an 1820-1830 Map

The Business is Located Near the Jones River

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Kingston Public Library

The Location of Stephen Bradford's (1807-1866) Business in Kington, Mass.

This is from an 1857 Map

The Business is Located Near the Jones River
Production Continued Under Orrin Bradford (1839-1890) Until the 1870s

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Kingston Public Library

Note: The Bradford family's eighteenth and nineteenth century production in Kingston will be included in my forthcoming two-volume, 1,660-page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/update-on-new-book-forthcoming-two.html.

For more information about the Bradford family businesses – see my fifth book, titled, A Celebrated Industry: The Historic Wares of Southeastern Massachusetts, Bristol County and Cape Cod: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-celebrated-industry-the-historic-wares-of-southeastern-massachusetts-bristol-county-and-cape-cod/.

Also see a feature story I wrote for the May 2019 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, The Bradford Family Potteries in Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2019/04/the-bradford-family-potteries-in.html.

19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher with Lid

Attributed to the Bradford Pottery in Kingston, Mass.

Coggle Decoration, Glaze, Etc. Match Archaeology

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: John Sideli

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

A Preview of Forthcoming Two-Volume Tenth Book: Some Archaeology Recovered in Peabody, Mass.

A subject that will be touched upon in my forthcoming two-volume, 1,660-page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts, will be the Bradford family's eighteenth and nineteenth century red earthenware production in parts of coastal Massachusetts. This new book will give a heavy emphasis towards the Quaker potters in Massachusetts, although the Bradfords were not a part of that religion. But a peculiar sherd recovered on property from a colonial house in Peabody, Massachusetts may shed some more light about production in Kingston, Massachusetts, otherwise it is likely related to production from the Southwick family in South Danvers (Peabody). Nonetheless, this is some of the information that will be included in Chapter 12 in Volume II of the new book:

"...The Bradford family in Kingston, Massachusetts, who were descendants of Governor William Bradford (1590-1657), although they were not Quakers but Pilgrim Separatists and members of the established "orthodox" church.

The family patriarch was a leading figure in the Scrooby Separatist congregation who fled England to the Netherlands and then to North America aboard the Mayflower in 1620 to escape religious persecution from the Church of England. He was a key author of the Mayflower Compact and was elected governor of Plymouth Colony many times.

The origin of the Bradford family pottery can be traced back to John Bradford (1732-1818), who reportedly began producing bricks and perhaps red earthenware, sometime around 1750 on his property in Kingston, a small coastal community in Plymouth County, which neighbors Plymouth, Massachusetts to the north. The family pottery then passed through multiple generations of ownership well into the nineteenth century, where multiple kilns were operated, and a family business was eventually established on Cape Cod in the 1800s.

Among the notable areas of production that this family is known for today was producing a vibrant green glaze that is similar in color to the greens produced by the Quaker potters in Bristol County, Massachusetts. The Bradfords also used various coggle wheel decorations, which are represented in the archaeology collected at the site of the Kingston business, kept today at Plimouth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C..."

Note: For more information about the Bradford family businesses – see my fifth book, titled, A Celebrated Industry: The Historic Wares of Southeastern Massachusetts, Bristol County and Cape Cod: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-celebrated-industry-the-historic-wares-of-southeastern-massachusetts-bristol-county-and-cape-cod/.

Also see a feature story I wrote for the May 2019 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, The Bradford Family Potteries in Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2019/04/the-bradford-family-potteries-in.html.

For more information about the Southwick family - see a feature story I wrote that was published on page 10 in the December 12, 2025 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly, titled, The Southwick Family Of Potters Of Salem & South Danvers, Mass.: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2025/12/new-published-feature-story-in-antiques.html.

A Preview of Forthcoming Two-Volume Tenth Book

These are Probably All Examples of Production from the Bradford Family in Mass.

See Article for More Information

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

New Feature Story Published in Antiques & Auction News: The Late 19th Century East Lake Pottery Of Southern New Jersey

This is the print version of my latest feature story published on pages 4-5 in the January 16, 2026 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, The Late 19th Century East Lake Pottery Of Southern New Jersey.

Link to a PDF of page 4: https://www.scribd.com/document/978618810/ant-004-011626-east-lake-page-4

Link to a PDF of page 5: https://www.scribd.com/document/978619306/ant-005-011626-east-lake-pottery-page-5

New Feature Story Published in Antiques & Auction News

New Feature Story Published in Antiques & Auction News

The Late 19th Century East Lake Pottery Of Southern New Jersey

See Above for More Information

New Feature Story Published in Antiques & Auction News

The Late 19th Century East Lake Pottery Of Southern New Jersey

See Above for More Information

New Feature Story Published in Antiques & Auction News

The Late 19th Century East Lake Pottery Of Southern New Jersey

See Above for More Information

This is the January 16, 2026 Issue of  Antiques & Auction News

See Above for More Information

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

New Feature Story Published in Antiques & Auction News: The Late 19th Century East Lake Pottery Of Southern New Jersey

My latest feature story is published on pages 4-5 in the current January 16, 2026 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, The Late 19th Century East Lake Pottery Of Southern New Jersey.

Link to a PDF of page 4: https://www.scribd.com/document/978618810/ant-004-011626-east-lake-page-4

Link to a PDF of page 5: https://www.scribd.com/document/978619306/ant-005-011626-east-lake-pottery-page-5

New Feature Story Published in Antiques & Auction News

New Feature Story Published in Antiques & Auction News

The Late 19th Century East Lake Pottery Of Southern New Jersey

This is Page 4

See Above for More Information

New Feature Story Published in Antiques & Auction News

The Late 19th Century East Lake Pottery Of Southern New Jersey

This is Page 5

See Above for More Information

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

Preview of the Forthcoming Two-Volume, Tenth Book: The Wilson Family Pottery of South Danvers, Massachusetts

There will be individual chapters about the better-known red earthenware families in South Danvers (Peabody), Massachusetts in Volume I of my forthcoming two-volume, 1,660-page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts:  http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/update-on-new-book-forthcoming-two.html.

Among those Quaker families were the Wilsons, who were also intertwined with the Quaker potters in Bristol County, Massachusetts. The family may be best known today for an advertisement placed by Joseph Wilson in the Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury on June 22, 1767: "Joseph Wilson - potter at the North End of Providence Informs the Public that he can Supply them with Earthen Ware at a Cheap Rate, made in the best Manner and Glazed in the Same Way as Practised in Philadelphia - All Persons in this Town may be regularly supplied by Means of the Boats which constantly pass between this Place and Providence."

The Wilson family descended from Theophilus Wilson (1601-1689), who migrated as part of the Puritan movement from England to Essex County, Massachusetts, sometime before his daughter, Jane Wilson (1614-1693) was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1614. Theophilus and his family also lived in Bristol County, Massachusetts and Cambridge, Massachusetts, before settling in Salem, Massachusetts about 1635.

Joseph Wilson learned the pottery craft in South Danvers before he relocated to Dedham, Massachusetts before 1764, and later Rhode Island by 1767. He is then cited in a lawsuit in Boston in the 1780s, where he was described as a "local potter."

There were a number of other Wilson family members who remained in South Danvers working as potters in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, although very little is documented about their production today. Interestingly, my niece Alexis and myself visited the location of the Wilson Pottery in South Danvers (Peabody) about a decade ago, where we found evidence of slip decoration that will be published in my forthcoming two-volume book.

Nonetheless, published in an article written by Charles D. Cook for the January 1931 issue of The Magazine Antiques, titled, Early Rhode Island Pottery, is a lidded red earthenware handled pot reportedly made by Joseph Wilson in Providence. I cannot prove the attribution, although there are a small group of these types of jugs known today, which I have always wondered if they were made by the Wilson family in South Danvers. The form somewhat coincides with another style of handled pot also thought to have been made in the area, such as one example published in Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares, now owned by the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

The Wilson Family Pottery of South Danvers, Massachusetts

18th or Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Handled Pot with Original Lid

Possibly Made in Essex County, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T. and Ron & Penny Dionne Collection

Information that Will be Included in Forthcoming Two-Volume, Tenth Book

This Will be Included in Chapter 7 About the Wilson Family

See Article for More Information

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

Some More Information About Red Earthenware Made in Bristol County, Massachusetts in the Late 18th and Early 19th Century

There has been a good amount of interest recently with the articles that I have posted to this website about red earthenware made in Bristol County, Massachusetts in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. As a result of the area's strong ties to the Salem, Massachusetts area through intermarriages and the Quaker religion, Bristol County will be included as part of my forthcoming two-volume, 1,660-page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts:  http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/update-on-new-book-forthcoming-two.html.

Nonetheless, here are some more examples of the dynamic glazes and shapes produced in southeastern Massachusetts and Bristol County, although I want to emphasize that the Bradford family produced comparable green glazes and forms in Kingston, Massachusetts and possibly Cape Cod so there may be some overlap between the two locations. There were also additional potters in southeastern Massachusetts; Abington, Braintree, etc.

Note: All of these objects and plenty more were previously published in my fifth book, titled, A Celebrated Industry: The Historic Wares of Southeastern Massachusetts, Bristol County and Cape Cod: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-celebrated-industry-the-historic-wares-of-southeastern-massachusetts-bristol-county-and-cape-cod/.

Here are links to the Bristol County articles that I recently posted to this website --

1) A Type of Red Earthenware Jar Made in Bristol County, Massachusetts in the Late 18th and Early 19th Century: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/a-type-of-red-earthenware-jar-made-in.html

2) Late 18th and Early 19th Century Green Glazed Red Earthenware Produced in Bristol County, Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/late-18th-and-early-19th-century-green.html

3) A Style of Red Earthenware Mug and Cup with a Pouring Spout Produced in Bristol County and South Danvers, Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/a-style-of-red-earthenware-mug-and-cup.html.

Red Earthenware Made in Southeastern Mass. and Bristol County, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T., Ron & Penny Dionne and Historic Deerfield

I also want to note that these coastal Massachusetts forms shown below were published without information in Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares. They are owned today by the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. They are also published in Chapter 2 in Volume I of my forthcoming tenth book. 

Interestingly, Watkins published this picture between objects made in Essex County, Massachusetts and Bristol County, Massachusetts. I went through every piece of archaeology that I could find from the Beverly, Danvers and Salem, Massachusetts area, as well as surviving objects owned by numerous museums. There is no physical evidence to say that this type of production happened in the Salem and Danvers area, but these types of shapes have been found in Bristol County through the years, including examples discovered in early contexts in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Personally, I feel they more likely originated in the southeastern Massachusetts and Bristol County area. 

Objects Published in Early New England Potters and Their Wares

There are Varying Related Objects Known Associated with These Pitchers and Jar

See Article for More Information

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

A Style of Red Earthenware Mug and Cup with a Pouring Spout Produced in Bristol County and South Danvers, Massachusetts

For what it matters - I think my favorite book in my pottery book series is my forthcoming two volume,1,660-page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts. I am really happy with how this book came out! 

As I noted last week, I will be speaking about this book at the Peabody Historical Society in March, although I will also speaking at the Charlestown Historical Society this year with Boston archaeologist Joe Bagley, as well as the Bidwell House Museum in Monterey, Massachusetts, the LeRoy, New York Historical Society and Historic Trappe in southeastern Pennsylvania, among other events: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/update-on-new-book-forthcoming-two.html.

Nonetheless, this is a subject that will be covered in Chapter 6 in Volume I of the forthcoming book, titled, "The Southwick Pottery of South Danvers, Massachusetts;" this form of red earthenware mug with a pouring spout is a type known from the late eighteenth and early nineteenth Quaker red earthenware potters in Bristol County, Massachusetts. There are a small group known today, although the few green glazed examples are likely the most remarkable.

However, a smaller version in the shape of a cup with a pouring spout has been recovered in archaeological evidence found at the site of one of the Southwick family potteries in South Danvers (Peabody), where there is also a surviving example owned by the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. It is unclear if there is any direction connection, but most of the red earthenware potters in Bristol County during this period, as well as the Southwick family were intertwined in marriages through the Quaker religion.

Note: For more information - see a feature story I wrote that was recently published on page 10 in the December 12, 2025 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly, titled, The Southwick Family Of Potters Of Salem & South Danvers, Mass.: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2025/12/new-published-feature-story-in-antiques.html.

Also see my fifth published book, titled, A Celebrated Industry: The Historic Wares of Southeastern Massachusetts, Bristol County and Cape Cod: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-celebrated-industry-the-historic-wares-of-southeastern-massachusetts-bristol-county-and-cape-cod/.

Late 18th or Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Mug from Bristol County, Mass.

A Pouring Spout was Added to the Front

This Type of Production is Also Known from the Southwicks in S. Danvers, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Historic Deerfield

Information Included in Forthcoming Two-Volume, Tenth Book

See Article for More Information

This Shape May Have Been Inspired After European Forms

These British Salt-Glazed Stoneware Mugs with Pouring Spouts were Made in the 1700s

Published in A Catalogue of English Brown Stoneware from the 17^th and 18^th Centuries Compiled by Jonathan Horne

See Article for More Information

Courtesy: Anthony Butera, Jr.

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