The Stephen Bradford Pottery: Rediscovering a Dynamic Coastal Massachusetts Industry

Found in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is a variety of red earthenware sherds excavated from the Stephen Bradford (1771-1837) pottery site in Kingston, Massachusetts. Until recently, this business was largely overlooked, despite producing some of the most dynamic red earthenware in coastal Massachusetts during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The archaeological evidence proves that the pottery utilized multiple types of coggle-wheel decorations. These distinct patterns have helped identify various red earthenware pitchers that first emerged on the antiques market during the Chris Huntington sale in Maine in 1974. Furthermore, this archaeology reveals that matching coggle-wheel decorations were also applied to other forms, including a variety of shaped jars.

Recognizing the historical value of this archaeology, the history of the Bradford family was then published in 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/. 

For a brief history: This historic potting lineage descended directly from Governor William Bradford (1590-1657), the Mayflower passenger who led the Plymouth Colony for over thirty years. Generations later, the family's Kingston pottery operation began around 1750 under John Bradford (1732–1811) and continued well into the nineteenth century. To sustain the regional brick-making and red earthenware business, John and his son, Stephen Bradford, managed the kiln and worked the local clay pits alongside other family members and local apprentices. The operation's enduring success eventually inspired a spinoff family business located on Cape Cod.

Note: For more information about the archaeology of the Bradford Pottery - see Martha L. Sulya's Graduate Masters Thesis, Ubiquitous and Unfamiliar: Earthenware Pottery Production Techniques and the Bradford Family Pottery of Kingston, MA: https://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses/326/.

Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar with Lid Adorned with Coggle Wheel Decoration

Coggle Matches Sherds Collected from the Stephen Bradford Pottery Site in Kingston

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Photo Courtesy: Smithsonian Institution and Lew Scranton

Red Earthenware Sherds Adorned with the Same Coggle Wheel Decoration

Recovered from the Stephen Bradford Pottery Site in Kingston, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Smithsonian Institution

Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Adorned with Coggle Wheel Decoration

Coggle Matches Sherds Collected from the Stephen Bradford Pottery Site in Kingston

See Article for More Information

Red Earthenware Sherds Adorned with the Same Coggle Wheel Decoration

Recovered from the Stephen Bradford Pottery Site in Kingston, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Smithsonian Institution

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