Digging Deeper: Expanding the Story of the Peabody and Salem Potteries

For a long time, slip decorated red earthenware has been overlooked that was made in the Danvers and Salem areas of Massachusetts in the eighteenth century. Even though this important type of production was largely forgotten in print, modern archaeology has dug up the truth and brought this lost history back to light. This fascinating topic will soon be explored in great detail 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.

Some of the early pottery made in this region was very similar to the colonial pottery industry found in Charlestown, Massachusetts. One style featured a spiraled design also found on European pottery, as well as stoneware made in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York. I first came across this local style about ten years ago with my nephew, Jason, when we found pieces of a pan along a river in Danversport, Massachusetts (first photo). This exciting find led to learning about other related artifacts in archaeology collections from nearby towns like Ipswich, Marblehead, and Salem (second photo). 

Thanks to these archaeological discoveries, a small group of existing objects have been identified in private and museum collections like Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, the Chipstone Foundation in Wisconsin, and Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (third photo).

Some of this information was initially published in a research story I wrote for the November 2017 issue of the New England Antiques Journal, Digging Into the Peabody Potteries: Archaeology and Red Earthenware, although it will be massively expanded upon in the new book.

Interestingly, the story of this slip decorated red earthenware first arrived in the Salem Village area in 1687 when a potter moved there from Charlestown to set up a new business. This same potter was later personally involved in the famous 1692 Salem Witch Trials. Over the years, he passed his pottery secrets down from one local craftsman to the next. This network included the famous Symonds family of Salem. While history books today best remember the Symonds family for the furniture they made in the 1600s, they were also skilled potters who helped connect this local trade back to its roots in Charlestown.

My Nephew Jason Finding the Slip Decorated Sherd with a Spiraled Design

This is Along a River in Danversport, Mass.

The Pan Sherd was Made in the Danvers and Salem, Mass. Area

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Various Slip Decorated Sherds Recovered in the Salem, Mass. Area

All Adorned with a Spiraled Design

Top Left was Found in a 1687-1709/10 Context in Salem Village (Danvers)

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Photo Courtesy: Smithsonian Institution, Marblehead Museum and the Trustees of Reservations

Existing Slip Decorated Objects from the Danvers and Salem, Mass. Area

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Photo Courtesy: Private Collections and Old Sturbridge Village

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