The production of pottery associated with Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia began in 1937 when master potter and designer Joseph Palin Thorley (1892-1987), an apprentice from the famed Wedgwood potteries in Staffordshire, England, began designing ceramic forms for the newly restoring historic town. Shortly thereafter, in 1938, local artisan James E. Maloney (1912-2005) established the independent Williamsburg Pottery Factory nearby, setting up a small kiln to hand-turn affordable, eighteenth century style salt-glaze stoneware (and red earthenware) for roadside travelers. While Maloney's commercial enterprise eventually exploded into a massive, multi-acre shopping attraction, the non-profit Colonial Williamsburg Foundation chose a different path for its official "Williamsburg Restoration" craft program by commissioning regional artisans to fulfill their museum-quality needs.
By the 1950s and 1960s, this official program began partnering with elite ceramic manufacturers and specialized folk artists to replicate the exact sherds found during ongoing archaeological excavations across the historic area. This initiative reached its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, highlighted by premium porcelain partnerships with companies like Mottahedeh & Company to reproduce high-end dinnerware, alongside collaborations with Pennsylvania folk potters like James C. Seagreaves (1912-1997) and Lester Breininger (1935-2011). It was during this late-twentieth century period that the foundation's highly collectible marbled slip decorated red earthenware pieces were actively thrown and stamped with the official "CW" hallmark.
Interestingly, a small group of marbled slip decorated red earthenware dishes have appeared in the antiques trade over the last decade, though the manufacturer has not been identified. One sold at Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates in Virginia in 2015, while a second sold more recently at Revere Auctions in Minnesota in 2026.
This type of marbled red earthenware dish deserves closer attention, as it appears to bridge the gap between eighteenth century British slip-decorated earthenware traditions and later twentieth century studio pottery. Its design centers on the historic marbled slip technique—an early American and English (and European) folk style where contrasting liquid clays are poured onto the surface and physically shaken or tilted. This process, historically known as joggling, allows gravity to blend the wet slips into a completely unique, veined design before a clear glaze is applied to intensify the colors. Long a subject of historical intrigue, a small group of these dishes has been discovered from various locations in southeastern Pennsylvania. Though they feature distinctly different marbled patterns, they all originate from the same manufacturer. Similar examples have also surfaced in parts of northern New England, such as the two examples illustrated here, perhaps highlighting the widespread distribution and lasting appeal of this distinctive regional ware.
Note: This type of decoration is discussed from a different point of view in my latest two-volume book, 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/.
It will also be a title subject of a forthcoming published feature story, as well as mentioned in my next two-volume book, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts.
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
No comments:
Post a Comment