As noted yesterday, another branch of the Bradford family pottery business was established on Cape Cod in 1819, when Noah Bradford Jr. (1761-1841) relocated from Kingston to Barnstable, Massachusetts, to expand the family's regional reach. After acquiring the site from Prince Nye (1781-1850), he operated the pottery there from 1819 to 1830. Fascinatingly, archaeological evidence from this enterprise survives today, having been salvaged in the twentieth century by Brian Cullity, the former curator at Heritage Museums & Gardens (formerly the Sandwich Museum).
Only a small group of these jars are known today, which feature a highly distinct construction detail: somewhat pressed curved handles finished with bold, deep finger impressions pressed into the clay at each terminal. This specific stylistic and structural treatment is exceptionally rare, separating this work from other known New England red earthenware manufacturers of the period.
Intriguingly, several different shaped jars with this same type of handled appear to have been originally owned by Samuel Wing (1774–1854), who established himself as a prominent rural cabinetmaker in neighboring Sandwich during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These jars may suggests a direct trade relationship between the Bradford pottery in Barnstable and Wing's homestead in Sandwich. These specific pieces owned by Wing are now preserved as part of the permanent collection at Old Sturbridge Village.
Notably, the Bradford family's output in Kingston and possibly Barnstable also featured a distinct green glaze that is comparable to those produced by Quakers in Bristol County, Massachusetts. This pottery helps contextualize Wing's career, which is remarkably well-documented thanks to the survival of his personal account books and tools. These records reveal that Wing, like many country artisans of his era, sustained his workshop by blending furniture-making with agricultural labor and local trade. Through surviving pieces matched to his documentation, scholars have identified his distinct construction styles and specialized chair-making techniques, illustrating how Cape Cod craftsmen successfully integrated urban stylistic influences from Boston with the practical demands of local agrarian and seafaring populations.
For more information - see a five-page feature story I wrote for the May 2019 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled “The Bradford Family Potteries in Massachusetts.” This information was then published again in my fifth book, 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/.
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
No comments:
Post a Comment