This post is a continuation of a post from last week titled, "Somerset's Story in Three Red Earthenware Sherds"...http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/05/somersets-story-in-three-red.html.
...Recovered by Lura Woodside Watkins (1897–1982) at the Clark Purinton Jr. (1753–1840) pottery site in Somerset, Massachusetts (active 1781–1817), this red earthenware sherd offers a window into the region's daily life. Rather than a random find, the fragment—likely from a jar or bowl—was intentionally selected by Watkins as a key diagnostic marker for Somerset’s specific style of production.
Clark Purinton Junior was the grandson of Daniel Purinton (1710–1764), who was living in Salem, Massachusetts, when he married into the Osborne family pottery dynasty in 1726; Daniel was also an early settler of the Pottersville section of Somerset. Clark Purinton Junior was the son of Clark Purinton Senior (1729–1797), who established the family’s presence in the area by the mid-1700s. While the Chace family is credited with opening Somerset's first pottery around 1705, Clark Purinton Senior built one of the area’s most influential red earthenware businesses that helped define the town's central industrial hub. Clark Purinton Junior eventually expanded this family legacy by partnering with Asa Chace (1777-1858) in the early 1800s, a move that solidified Somerset’s reputation as a premier center for New England red earthenware, which was later followed by the production of stoneware.
For comparison, I have included two bowls and a jar from Bristol County that share similarities with this sherd. Although Watkins specifically identified the fragment as originating from a bowl, all of these pieces are part of the Watkins collection at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts.
Note: For more information - see another post from last week, titled, "Three Generations of Red Earthenware & Stoneware: The Wood Street Pottery of Somerset": http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/05/three-generations-of-red-earthenware.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/.
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