It has been an exciting weekend so far for America’s 250th Anniversary auctions, highlighted by a number of record-breaking sales at Crocker Farm in Maryland. The event’s standout piece was an early Civil War-era cobalt-decorated stoneware jar from New Jersey, beautifully adorned with an image of a man carrying an American flag. This exceptional crock ultimately fetched $260,000 plus the buyer's premium: https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2026-07-31/lot-1/The-Patriot-Jar-Highly-Important-Civil-War-Era-Stoneware-Jar-w-Man-Carrying-an-American-Flag/.
I also want to draw your attention to a remarkable sale today at John McInnis Auctions in Amesbury, Massachusetts: a sword actually used during the American Revolution. This profound piece of military history was carried by Captain Nathaniel Warner (1744–1812) of Gloucester, Massachusetts, during the iconic Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. The historic saber features a beautifully crafted, figural lion's head pommel marked 'Harvey,' along with its original leather and silver scabbard inscribed by the renowned S&G Harvey Cutlers of Birmingham, England. Backed by exceptional provenance, the sword comes with a comprehensive binder of official documentation and fetched $18,000 plus the buyer's premium: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/235692382_capt-nat-l-warner-battle-of-bunker-hill-saber-amesbury-ma/?srsltid=AfmBOoriEUBdl2xShpceNg-qdD637rNcljdK3J1MT5Z2Wm60PP49pouW.
Another notable object from this sale is an eighteenth century handwritten manuscript that features the musical score and lyrics for the historic march "The American Hero," composed by Nathaniel Niles (1741-1828) in 1775. This document directly commemorates the historic Battle of Bunker Hill fought in Charlestown: https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/18th-c-BUNKER-HILL-TREEBLE-REV-WAR-MARCH/700b-18th_c-01.8.26-mcinni.
However, the object from this sale that truly caught my eye is George Bishop’s (1620–1668) book, 'New England Judged'. Published in 1661, this rare volume powerfully documents the brutal Puritan persecution of early Quakers. The book serves as a meticulous, journalistic chronicle of the severe Quaker persecutions carried out by the Puritan authorities in New England—most notably within the Massachusetts Bay Colony—between 1656 and 1660. The Puritans viewed the theological teachings of Quakerism as a direct threat to their tightly controlled religious and political governance
Furthermore, the book is of particular interest to me because it chronicles the tragic story of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick. This elderly Salem couple was repeatedly fined, jailed, and brutally whipped for practicing their faith. Bishop details how the authorities ultimately banished them on pain of death to Shelter Island in New York, where they died of exposure in 1660, and how the court subsequently ordered their children to be sold into slavery to pay off the family's religious fines. Descendants of the Southwick family eventually became major producers of red earthenware in the Danvers and Salem area, marrying into other local Quaker potting dynasties and connecting with the potters of Bristol County, Massachusetts: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/235692410_1661-new-england-judged-not-by-mans-amesbury-ma.
Note: For additional information about the Southwicks - see a feature story I wrote 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.
For more information about the Battle of Bunker Hill and Charlestown's colonial red earthenware industry - see my third book, The Dawn of Independence, the Death of an Industry: The Pottery of Charlestown, Massachusetts: https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-dawn-of-independence-the-death-of-an-industry/.
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