Charlestown Pottery Chapter 3

The everyday household lifestyle and city environment of an urban eighteenth-century maritime community has become self-evident with my studies and through the artifacts recovered during the Big Dig excavation; which was undertaken prior to Boston's Central Artery project. The Big Dig has proven to be an important project in more aspects than the average person would realize. The weekly traffic congestion that once was, which has some-what become more organized as a result of the landmark project, is the obvious answer, but furthermore, an important part of American, Colonial and English history was unearthed. That for me, is the more important project.

Through my research - distilling, shipbuilding, trade and crafts are unquestionably represented in this wonderful collection. Ceramic production is clearly a craft represented in early Charlestown, but that does not include the theory of a blacksmith, furniture makers, cobblers, brickmaker and such who may have been employed to a lesser extent at the town waterfront.

The potential pottery sites of Bodge, Parker, Capen, Newhall, Runey, Ingalls, Penny, Harris, Manning, Larking and Standley excite me very much. However, there are additional sites that are equally fascinating. Through these additional sites, the concept of the community's view of the potter's skill and production level can be viewed through its appearance in local privies, businesses, taverns and homes.

The Henley Distillery opened around 1741 on Charlestown's waterfront, near the Town Dock site. Samuel Henley was the first owner and others proceeded his work at this same location. The distillery burned at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. While many business owners did not rebuild and instead opted to relocate after Charlestown was torched - the distillery was rebuilt. It has been reported that the business operated to as-late-as 1866, manufacturing rum and similar alcohol. Domestic and imported ceramics are represented in this site. Of all the Charlestown sites, this may be the location that represents the greatest time period. From the ceramic collection, I discovered these two stoneware shards yesterday that some-what link Charelstown's redware and stoneware industries together representing everyday household use through the theory of three centuries.

Around the year 1812, Barnabas Edmonds/Edmands/Edmunds, reportedly built a stoneware manufactory on Austin Street in Charlestown. The stoneware factory (more than one location) successfully manufactured stoneware and similar pottery through the turn of the twentieth-century. The January 1922 edition of Antique Magazine spells Barnabas' last name with a "U". The articles reads that the Essex Institute (previous historical society working out of Salem, Ma) houses examples of stoneware that bear the name of, "Barnabas Edmunds and Co." There very-well may have been a name-change at some-point with how the "Edmunds" Family spelled its last name. I have seen examples from this Boston and Charlestown Family spelled with a "U", "O" and an "A". The name appears to have evolved through time or at the very least, a variation has been used through the course of the company's stoneware production.

Edmands & Co - Charlestown, Ma

Photo Courtesy: The Cobbs - Peterborough, NH

 Maker's Mark

Photo Courtesy: The Cobbs - Peterborough, NH

Edmonds & Co - Boston

Photo Courtesy: Old Hope Antiques - New Hope, Pa

Attributed to Barnabas Edmunds - Charlestown, MA

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston

 In 1850, the Edmunds company reportedly moved to a new location near a wharf settled on the shores of the Mystic River. The photo shown below pictures the Edmunds stoneware company's tall smoke stacks around 1860.

Photo Courtesy: Charlestown, Ma Patch

The stoneware shards that were discovered as part of the Henley Distillery excavation more than likely were produced by "Edmunds" & Co. The attribution is a result of the letter "U" that is displayed in print on the smallest shard. The letter "U" is similar to the font type that was used for the known Edmands and Edmonds company marks. The numbers "185" are apparent on the same shard. I assume the handled stoneware jar was likely made during the 1850s at the company's most recent Mystic River location. While the Edmunds Family was the longest standing stoneware factory in Charlestown - they were not alone (stolen from David Graci's booklet, "Frederick Carpenter was Not Alone." - highly recommended purchase for any ceramic library). Jonathan Fenton and Frederick Carpenter were both eighteenth-century Charlestown potters. Carpenter worked well into the nineteenth-century within the company of Edmunds in Charlestown.

Jonathan Fenton - Charlestown, Ma - 18th Century

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston

Frederick Carpenter - Charlestown, MA - 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston

The Henley Distillery site is exceptionally interesting. Samuel Henley began purchasing parts of the site in 1741 from the Smith Family. The Smith site dates back to the 1640s. John Smith emigrated from his native England to Charlestown and purchased land on the town's waterfront. I'd rather not get into the details of this specific site other than saying a portion of the Smith site was represented in the excavation. While reading through the Charlestown reports for this site, I realized that there are potentially two areas of domestic redware represented - and the first being the eighteenth-century domestic wares from the area. The idea of seventeenth-century shards is not impossible. Even more fascinating, it is reported that the site of an extremely important seventeenth-century Charlestown potter bordered this site. I will not release this potter's name, but this could potentially be significant evidence of one of colonial America's earliest potters. This is all I will say at this time. The idea of seventeenth century redware shards, may in-fact be present and potentially attributable at the Smith site. The Henley Distillery and Smith Family site may represent though its ceramic artifacts, Charlestown's seventeenth-and-eighteenth-century redware industries - followed by the better-known and more recent, stoneware industry. 

By no means am I ready to discuss any of this information - in-fact, I would rather save it for my book, but here is a sample glimpse at potential example shards of early seventeenth-century domestic-made redware found in Charlestown. These are only samples. There is plenty to be excited about, which includes the idea of an unusual type of pottery pipe produced in early seventeenth-century Charlestown. If proven accurate, this alone could be an incredible story.

Early Redware Shards from the Smith Site

The only examples of English redware discovered at the Smith site were these two shards of seventeenth or possibly eighteenth-century English Sgraffito, that may have been manufactured in North Devon, England.

English Redware Sgraffito Shards - 17th or 18th Century
Possibly North Devon Pottery, England

17th Century North Devon, England Sgraffito Ware

Photo Courtesy: North Devon Pottery and Its Export to 17th Century America (book)

I am beginning to believe there are examples of Charlestown redware that have survived - and it's more than most would realize. My thoughts are the owners of "Charletown Wares" do not understand what they possess and most probably refer to it as American redware or possibly English. I am not by any means saying there is an abundance, but I have a feeling there are more living examples than most realize- and only time will tell if any such wares surface.

Lots more research to come....

Rare Stoneware Jug Found in Laconia, NH

I woke up this past Saturday morning well-rested, ready to head north to an auction that I had been watching for a solid week. It was in the Lake Winnipesaukee region of New Hampshire, which was at least, an hour-and-a-half from my coastal Massachusetts home. The auction house had advertised early American ceramics, early foreign ceramics and American art pottery.

My Definition of "early" Pottery

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston

I was extremely disappointed when I arrived. My idea of early I guess was a little different than what others may consider. I understand that 19th century is early, but I considered early to be earlier.

The auction hall was packed with middle-of-the-road type antique dealers. I tried, but I couldn't find anything that interested me. It was a typical estate auction - and what I would refer to as a junk auction. The sale offered mostly decorative accessories and furniture - rather than the historically important arts that I have much more of an interest in. The majority of what I saw was custom furniture, Victorian Period collectibles and twentieth-century decorative design. It was absolutely not my kind of auction. The ceramics were disappointing. I had hoped for some early imported wares, but the best I saw was an average Marblehead, Massachusetts Arts and Crafts Period bowl. It was very similar to the bowl pictured below.

Marblehead, Ma bowl

Photo Courtesy: Frank Kaminski Auctions - Beverly, Ma

I feel I have a good discipline at auctions. Many auction goers may have felt an obligation to bid on at least one lot or item since they had driven so far, however, that's not the way I approach an auction. Before the auction begins, I determine what my interests are. I then decide what my spending limit will be. People can and very often tend to get carried away at auctions. I figure out what I will spend and if the bidding goes past that amount then it wasn't meant to be. There will always be another day and more pottery. The number one rule anyone should follow at an auction; do not get caught up in the moment. It's all hype - don't let the crowd, excitement or auctioneer persuade you into becoming emotionally involved in the auction. This has always been my approach and I stand by it. On this particular day, I chose to leave.

Rather than driving home, I looked around the area antique shops in the Lake's region. I started in Meredith, New Hampshire. There were a handful of shops in the downtown area facing the lake. I visited all of them and there was very little that interested me. All the shops were your typical average antique shops. There were no hidden gems that I could see, mostly second-hand "old stuff". At this point - I chose to call it a day and head home. I figured it wasn't my day. Everyone involved in the antique businss - whether it being a collector or dealer, has these kinds of days.You can't find a buried treasure everyday.

On my way home to Newburyport, Massachusetts, I decided to take a short detour and check out the shops within the downtown area of Laconia. The first few shops were basically second hand thrift shops. There was nothing for me. I then proceeded to visit the other side of the downtown area. The area was somewhat made made up of two streets.  This is where I found three legitimate vintage antique shops. From these three, I started with the largest store, which I will keep anonymous because I don't want to give away any of the places that I enjoy "picking" at. If I have found an important piece once, there is no reason not to believe that a find isn't possible in the same location again.

Within only a matter of minutes, I had come across an unusual piece of stoneware with a maker's mark I had only seen once before - and that was at a decent show. The two gallon stoneware jug sat on the floor beneath a booth that displayed early twentieth-century common pottery. I picked the jug off the floor and glanced it over. There were no issues with it other than the expected wear that one would see on a piece of utilitarian pottery that was more than a hundred-fifty-years old. I saw the price and I really had no excuse to set it back. It didn't really make any financial sense to do so. The similar jug I had seen this past fall at a Massachusetts show with the same maker's mark and gallon size was priced ten-times what the shop was asking in price. I quickly looked up auction results on my iPhone and the only auction result I found through LiveAuctioneers was eight times the asking price. For those of you who don't know - LiveAuctioneers is an online site that many of the major American auction houses use to offer live remote bidding via the internet, while the auction is ongoing live. If you have an account, you can search the auction results. The auction result I found was from May 2011 so it was still relevant.

I brought the jug up front and asked the store keeper if I could make an offer on the piece of stoneware. She said that the best the consignor would do was twenty-dollars off. That seemed fair to me. I left the stoneware jug with the shop keeper while I finished taking in the sights of the store. At the checkout, the woman told me that a man had just come into the store, saw the jug on the counter and tried purchasing it. Fortunately, I had already committed to buying it.

I am not typically a stoneware collector outside of the Boston and Charlestown made wares. I own some New York and New England-made forms, which include a one-gallon jug made by Thomas Crafts of Whately, Massachusetts, but overall my focus is redware made within the northeast.

Thomas Crafts was instrumental in establishing a large pottery presence in Whately. He made both stoneware and redware - and is probably most known for the teapots he produced during the early years of the nineteenth-century. The glaze on Whately teapots are similar to the jet-black wares produced in Jackfield, England of the time. I would assume that Crafts teapots were exported to such cities as Boston, New York and Philadelphia - and his teapots competed against the imported English wares. It appears that this was a constant competition between both American and English potters that began during the Colonial Period and continued into the years that followed the American Revolution.

Early 19th Century Teapot - Possibly Thomas Haig - Philadelphia, Pa

Photo Courtesy: Cowan's Auctions - Cincinnati, OH

Jackfield, England Teapot - 18th Century

Photo Courtesy: NMSC Archaeology Blog

Thomas Crafts Teapot - Whately, Ma

Early 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Northeast Auctions - Portsmouth, NH

The Thomas Crafts site in Whately has been dug for artifacts. While it was not professionally excavated by an archaeological team, local historian and author, David Graci has found shards that are similar to the above mentioned teapot at the site.

 Crafts Pottery Shard

Photo Courtesy: David Graci

 Crafts Pottery Shard

Photo Courtesy: David Graci

David Graci's results have also yielded other forms of pottery that included redware and stoneware. Thomas Crafts worked with a partner, Sanford Perry - who made a similar formed redware teapot. Here is a link for further reading about both potters.

Thomas Crafts & Co 1 Gallon Stoneware Jug

Whately, Ma

 Maker's Mark

The Crafts family of potters were a large family that included ten additional potters, who worked in Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. There were a handful of potters that worked in Whately outside of the Crafts Family. Ashfield, Massachusetts also maintained its own industry of the same period and this community was located next door to Whately. The area is known today for having a strong redware and stoneware culture.

The Crafts Family produced many accomplished potters and among them was Thomas Crafts' son, Martin Crafts. Martin trained under his father Thomas, in Whately during his early years. After his training, he left Massachusetts and is credited with being one of the first, if not the pioneer stoneware potter in the state of Maine. He worked in Portland from 1834 to 1839, working alongside Eleazor Orcutt, an accomplished Troy, New York potter, who had relocated. This venture did not last long as five years after arriving in Maine, Martin left. His brother, Caleb Crafts continued the Crafts pottery tradition in Portland after his departure.

Orcutt and Crafts Pottery - Portland, Me

Photo Courtesy: Maine State Museum

Martin Crafts left Maine to join his brother James, in Nashua, New Hampshire. Martin's stoneware business did not see longstanding success in New Hampshire. The business only lasted from 1839 until 1851. The historical context of Crafts stoneware in Nashua can be compared to the ceramics that were attempted by Benjamin Leigh  and Jonathan Allman at the "New-Boston" Pottery in Boston, Massachusetts in 1769. The overall geographic landscape was not ideal for New England stoneware potters or refined ceramics as both Leigh and Allman discovered. In most instances, the proper clay had to be shipped to the manufacturer and it did not make a good business sense to pay such a price. The proper clays were shipped from such locations as New York State and New Jersey. States like Maine and New Hampshire did not produce much for stoneware because of this concept and ultimate disadvantage. Stoneware was still sold in New Hampshire by merchants, however the jars or jugs were produced elsewhere - and the merchants stamp was impressed with whomever the means of distribution became.

A.M. Eastman Stoneware Jar - Manchester, NH

Photo Courtesy: Royka's Auction - Lunenberg, Ma

Martin Crafts is regarded as the only potter (or at the least, the earliest) who successfully produced stoneware in the state of New Hampshire. This was the maker's mark that was impressed within the stoneware jug that I found in Laconia.

 Martin Crafts 2 Gallon Stoneware Jug

Nashua, NH

Maker's Mark

Martin Crafts left Nashua in 1851 and returned home to Whately, where he briefly worked with his father, Thomas - before heading to California. Let me also add that he was working in Boston around 1850 attempting to setup a means of distribution for his stoneware, which if successful, may have made his Nashua work much more longstanding. Today his wares are viewed as rare and collectible. While I cannot prove it at this time - it would be extremely interesting if there is a California gold rush means for his western destination. That would certainly add to his legend and collector's appeal. It also not known if he continued manufacturing pottery out west.

The stoneware jug came with a rather interesting provenance. Attached was a paper tag, that identified the jug as found on September 22, 1989. It read that it was purchased from the home of Ray Larsson located at 57 Province Street in Laconia. The tag also mentions that the jug was covered in red paint, which the previous owner successfully removed. The idea of paint reminded me of a similar stoneware jar I had recently read a story about. That jar had been discovered at a southern auction. It had been removed from a Georgia Plantation and it too, was covered in paint. Here is the article. Paint and stoneware may have had some sort of artistic appeal over the years as it is not uncommon to find stoneware covered in old paint today.

I feel this is a fun story of how collecting ceramics should be. These are the types of stories that I enjoy hearing the old-time collectors tell. Anyone can go to a high-end auction or high-end show and pay top dollar where they are told what exactly it is they are buying. I find it much more fun holding the confidence to walk into a much lesser setting and use my knowledge to identify the good from the bad - and make a proper attribution. Not to exclude, I also pay a whole lot less with this approach. A longtime dealer and collector once told me that collecting is meant to be fun. It shouldn't be stressful. This idea couldn't prove more true.

More to follow...

Charlestown Pottery Chapter 2

All that is left today for us to remember Charlestown's early redware industry of yesterday, appears to be the remnants that were excavated more than twenty-five-years ago, as part of Boston's Big Dig project. There are more than likely many more redware examples or shards of Charlestown's past - beneath the homes, pavement, concrete and parks within the city limits. I admit, this fascinates me, but in equal,  the idea of living whole examples are just as exciting. They must be out there. They have to be. There is such little knowledge towards this subject in both the collector and institution worlds, that if such examples do exist - most are unable to attribute such a specimen in a proper way. It is my belief that most accept the notion that the Charlestown pottery industry truly began in 1790 with its well-known stoneware potters; the likes of Jonathan Fenton, Frederick Carpenter and such. This is completely false. The Charlestown redware industry predates all of this - and it dates all the way back to the seventeenth-century. The redware and stoneware industries were both basically isolated from one-and-another in regards to a historical context. Neither overlapped the other during any time period. This idea serves true surrounding many American pottery communities, where is, redware usually disappeared when stoneware emerged. However, the tale of these two industries in Charlestown are different and the stories are incredibly exciting. These stories I will eventually tell.

This blog post is a tease for down the road when I choose it is an appropriate time to release more information that I feel is completely accurate. Both of the following redware forms are potential surviving examples of Charlestown's redware industry. They were both found in areas that have reported strong ties to Charlestown and its redware potters. Aside from that, both share characteristics that would lead one to believe much more - and the idea of a Charlestown tie becomes likely. Both are early and probably date back to the Colonial Period. This is all the information that I am willing to release at this time. If you have any feedback - feel free to email me.

American Redware mug with an unusual and original lid

It was likely used in a tavern and it may have ties to Charlestown's taverns.

18th Century

American Redware Pitcher with Original Lid

The support handle is very unusual for American redware.

18th Century

Please stay tuned...

Ceramic Eye From the Merrimac

My nephew, Jason - has for a few years now, shared a common interest with me of early American redware. He can tell you all about William Pecker and his nephew, James Chase, both whom worked out of Merrimacport, Massachusetts. He says that I am like William Pecker and he is James Chase. If anyone were to ask him who a particular maker of any given piece of redware was - more-often-than-not, it is, "William Pecker." Pecker is the American potter who I have taught him most about.

Probably William Pecker Redware Jug

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston

I have memories of partaking a similar excitement towards my parents passion for the early decorative arts around the same age.

Jason with his first piece of New England redware
Summer 2012, 8-Years-Old
Possibly Maine Made Jug

During the milder New England months of spring, summer and fall, Jason and I will go on a countless number of bike rides around Newburyport, Massachusetts. We often take scenic routes through Newburyport. He's usually telling me which direction that day's journey will lead us to. No matter what his choice on any-given-day, it usually will include stopping at one of city's many playgrounds, a trip through the historic downtown area and a ride along the waterfront. As to how we get to these destinations, there are a number of possibilities he has lead me down.

On Easter Day of 2012, we took somewhat of an unusual route. Well, maybe not unusual, but it was not one of his normal decisions. I recall the weather was cold. There was a dampness in the air. I remember overcast skies with temperatures in or around the forties. Ironically, this was only weeks after I remembered reading a Saturday morning Newburyport Daily News article by long-time Newburyport resident, John Lagoulis. The premise of the article was the early unwanted trash; such as ceramics, glass, porcelain, iron and such that had been discarded into the Merrimac River of year's past. The Merrimac River extends the length of Newburyport. The river's bottom tells the everyday stories of the early residents of Newburyport. This was common procedure and a means of disposal among many American river cities up until the twentieth-century. It all depended on the city when the practice stopped. In Newburyport, it continued well into the twentieth-century before the city agreed that this practice would be no more. Today, the Merrimac River is a healthy, strong river that empties into the Atlantic Ocean - an area that both fisherman and recreational boaters flock to during the more desirable New England months. Here is a link to Lagoulis' article.

While Jason and I made our way down the dirt path beside the Merrimac River, I thought of the article that Lagoulis wrote. Within it, he makes mention that the river bottom is littered with artifacts from these disposals. It was my understanding from Lagoulis, that the trash remnants are most visible and obvious following an ocean storm - which as a result, churns up the Merrimac River's bottom at the mouth and upriver.

As we moved our way down the scenic path, Jason wanted to stop for really no apparent reason. I imagine that he wanted to explore the newly-found area. This was his first time seeing this view of the river. We stopped and ventured off the dirt trail, making our way down towards the bank of the river. The tide was extremely low. After only walking a matter of yards, we stumbled upon a treasure trove of artifacts, like those that Lagoulis had described in his article only weeks before. We could visibly see ceramics, porcelain, glass and iron. The two of us hung out at this spot for quite a bit. Jason ran around in excitement grabbing what he could find and as quickly as he found it - he brought it to me to show and ask what it was. I must add that it was low tide and with that came mud. You can probably imagine what an eight-year-old boy and mud means. Yup, you guessed it - a mess!

Some of the Ceramic and Glass Artifacts

Jason and I were in the same area where a pre-colonial wharf had recently been discovered. The Newburyport wastewater treatment plant was undergoing work along the shores of the Merrimac for a new facility. Amidst this work, crews unearthed a forty-five-inch pine wharf. The small piece of wood is the only surviving example of the advanced system of wharves that once stood and operated out of the Merrimac River, as part of the area's eighteenth-century thriving maritime industry. 

Here is an excerpt from the Newburyport Daily News on November 13, 2012;

"The wharf was originally built in 1760, experts believe, by Philip Coombs, a shipbuilder who purchased his waterfront land at the foot of Lime Street in the 1730s. According to an Archaeological Report issued to the city to accompany the wood wharf remnant, Philip and his son, William, traveled to Canada to build ships on behalf of England and America during the French and Indian War. They were captured and held in a French prison, where the elder Coombs passed away. His son William, however, returned home to Newburyport and took up work on the land left to him by his father, expanding the wharf to accommodate a growing business."

The two of us were a short distance from where this wharf was found. A few miles up the river, William Pecker and his nephew, James Chase worked from 1784 well past the half-way-point of the nineteenth-century. T'homas Nickerson and the Merrimac Pottery Company operated at the turn of the twentieth-century nearby. The Bayley Family of potters, Ebenezer Morrison and another potter by the name of John Thomas (no relation) all worked near those same shores that we stood at on this Easter Sunday.

I won't lie and tell you that I didn't imagine the idea of discovering an early redware shard from one of these early redware potters, because I did. We did not find much for early artifacts. We did uncover a great deal of Victorian period ceramics, and much of which I believe to be American-made. There was a latter example of mochaware. We found a shard from a Louisville, Kentucky stoneware jar. There was a great-deal of transfer-decorated whiteware, redware, albany glazed stoneware, porcelain and much glass.

 More Examples of Artifacts Discovered

We even found railroad spikes or large nails - and a sizable portion of the rail (we left behind) that once helped move Newburyport's rail line cross the Merrimac River during the nineteenth-century. The railroad phased in the early twentieth-century.

Newburyport Railroad Spikes

The most notably of our finds was a ceramic eye - that Jason found. He showed a great amount of excitement when he discovered it amongst the dead sea grass and rock lined shore - and soon after he found the eye, he found a similar body shard. On first-site, they both appeared to be from the same source and that of-which, I now believe to be a Victorian-era ceramic figure of a lion or a cat.

Possibly English Ceramic Eye and Body

While not exactly the same, I own this matching pair of Staffordshire, England ceramic lions, which are similar in decoration. This may give you an idea of what the remaining body that this eye and additional shard were once a part of. I believe the shards were made in the Staffordshire region of England during the late nineteenth-century.

Pair of Staffordshire, England Lions

Close-Up of of Face

We filled our pockets and made our way home. We've been back to this site many times, but we have never found anything notable since. During the summer months, the green sea grass grows tall and hides anything and everything that may have washed up on the shore. We stopped at this same spot this past fall when the grass had died back, but there wasn't much.

From time-to-time, I think about this ceramic eye. It now resides in my basement on a window sill. There are many questions I have surrounding it. Where did it come from? Who owned it? How did it make its way from England to Newburyport? How did it break? What was its purpose in however many households it had been a part of? Who owned it? Who made it? England to Newburyport is a long-trip - what stories can be told and more importantly, how many stories can this ceramic eye tell? For me personally, this is a fascination I have with antiquities and even broader, just old "stuff" - are the stories that can be told.

Please keep checking back...

Chamber Pots Early New England

Without getting into the specifics - you can probably guess what the lone purpose of an eighteenth-century American chamber pot was intended for. Gross, I assume some would say -- I know, but it was very much a fact of life in early New England - and in truth, worldwide. We take indoor plumbing for granted these days. Obviously bathrooms have not always been built-in as part of the American household. These pots were kept safely under a bed or some nearby place for when needed - and regardless of where they were kept, they were in nearly every eighteenth-century American household.

Chamber pots in year's past were a common form manufactured by the early utilitarian potters. With my studies, I have found it strikingly interesting the amount of skill and decoration that was demonstrated on such a form. On initial thought, I assumed a redware chamber pot would be plain, glazed with a basic color "only" on the interior and have a very minimal presence. They broke easy and were replaced often - and that would be my theory why such a form would have a limited existence in any household (not to mention its purpose). However, after reviewing shards from some early Boston potters and their chambers pots, I have determined this is most likely not the case.

I was taken back on first site of a chamber pot I viewed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire this past summer. The redware pot was on display at the Portsmouth Discovery Center. It had recently been salvaged from a site that was undergoing heavy construction in the area. Fortunately, an archaeological team stepped in, excavated and researched the area for such artifacts. The maker and origin is unknown at this time, but it is assumed to be American-made.

 Probably American-Made Redware Chamber Pot

18th Century

Photo Courtesy: Portsmouth Discovery Center - Portsmouth, NH

It has surprised me learning that there are really no-known surviving intact examples from any of these early New England potters. I have heard long-time New England redware collectors say that they have never seen a piece in its entirety. It appears the only known living examples of such forms are those that have been excavated by archaeology teams of New England.

Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) excavated the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company site in Newburyport, Massachusetts more than half a century ago - and those shards are now in the collection of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Her findings included a variety of slip decorated forms that included, what-else, chamber pots.

Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Chamber Pot Shards

18th Century - Newburyport, Ma

Photo Courtesy: Smithsonian: National Museum of American History - Washington, DC

 
Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth unearthed the eighteenth-century Samuel Marshall site a few decades ago, and like the Bayley site from the same period, chamber pots were found. Interesting enough, I have also found that Marshall may have used slip decoration on both the interior and exterior's of his pots.

Possibly Samuel Marshall Chamber Pot

18th Century - Portsmouth, NH

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke Museum Archaeology Department - Portsmouth, NH

Only a matter of yards (or a stone's throw) from the Marshall site, another potter by the name of John Shilaber worked during the same period. During a complete period restoration of the eighteenth-century Shilaber house, chamber pot shards were found in the backyard. While no kiln site was found, an abundance of shards were recovered leaving some to believe that his property may have been the site of Shilaber's pottery and business.

Possibly John Shilaber Chamber Pot

18th Century, Portsmouth, NH

Photo Courtesy: Hollis Broderick, The Antiquarium - Portsmouth, NH

This same form has been found at the Charlestown site, within the area's privies. It is assumed that these chamber pots were made by area Charlestown potters - and research is still ongoing to accurately determine what was made where and more importantly, who manufactured what. While it is still conceivable that the recovered chamber pots may have been imported - an answer to all of this will be determined in-time.

Probably American-Made Chamber Pot

18th Century

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Department - West Roxbury, Ma

I would like-to-think chamber pots were manufactured in nearly every New England community, and on a broader spectrum, "every" American eighteenth-century community. The amount of unknown early potters may be broad. However, the idea of a potter exporting their wares from a larger urban-type community to a much more rural setting could be quite possible. This is all part of my ongoing research.

I am a collector who very much enjoys the hunt for early pottery. No one really knows if all of these forms were ultimately destroyed. I am a believer and I anticipate discovering such a form, with a large amount of decoration (or at the very least, some decoration) - at a flea market, a yard sale, a country auction, a country shop...somewhere. These forms have to exist outside of the archaeological sites. There must be some survivors. Are they really all gone?

Chamber pots may have possessed one of the most obvious utilitarian purposes, but by today's standards - the slip decorated New England chamber pot is an example of early colonial art.

The study of colonial pottery through the Arts and Crafts era is fascinating. The progression of American pottery and how it was viewed and used for more than two-centuries is amazing. Clay use in America began as an extreme utilitarian means and ended as a platform for self-expression and art.

Chamber Pots Found in Charlestown, Ma Privies

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept.

More research to come...

Boston Common: Redware Dye Pot

Boston Common is America's earliest park, established around 1634 - and much of the park that we know today, is actually filled-in land. The Boston Archaeology Department houses a very important archaeological collection from the common area that has been excavated through the course of a few decades.

The land was filled in hundreds of years ago by area residents who wanted their "common" land to present an appealing landscape. The Boston Common land has seen a number of geographical changes over many lifespans, even dating back thousands of years. More recently, the ocean and salt marshes existed bordering part of property, while Native Americans used the area's resources. It was used as a cow pasture by Europeans in the 1630s up until 1830, when cows were banned from the area. The property has ties to the American Revolution, Battle of Lexington and Concord, public hangings - and "most" recently, a site of public protest towards the Vietnam War. The Boston Common's artifacts collection recites the story of this area's history dating back hundreds-and-hundreds of years before the days of Europeans in America.

Fitz Henry Lane (Lithograph) - Gloucester, Mass

"The National Lancers with the Reviewing Officers on Boston Common"

Photo Courtesy: Northeast Auctions - Portsmouth, NH

Not too long ago, we had an exciting discovery of an artifact mixed in with a bag of corroded iron at one of the Boston Common sites. On first sight, it appeared to be a verdigris covered copper point. With careful research since, it is believed to be a copper trade point that dates between 1550 and 1650. It is considered to potentially be the "only" known artifact dating between the arrival of Europeans in Boston and their interaction with the Native American communities. The Europeans brought copper that was a subject of trade with the natives in the early years. The copper point may have been used for a variety of uses, such as an end point to a spear used for hunting native deer in the area.

The redware dye pot pictured below was found seventy centimeters or nearly four feet below the surface, within the area that encompasses the Frog Pond on Boston Common.

American-Made Redware Dye Pot

It is not known at this time whether these forms were made in early Charlestown, Massachusetts. This dye pot may be too late to be a part of Charlestown's redware industry. I wonder what its story is.  How did it end up where it was found? Who left it on the Common? Where did it travel from?

Dye pots were made in eighteenth century Newburyport, Massachusetts at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company, but the form was far from being unique to any one potter or region. Dye and lard pots were made in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and elsewhere. It was a common manufactured form that was popular in eighteenth and nineteenth century America - and to say this jar was made by any specific potter, would be extremely difficult to prove.

Redware Dye Pot, Possibly New England-Made

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass

Learn More About This Dye Pot

The above pictured dye pot is similar in form and glaze to the jar found on Boston Common. The pot is part of Old Sturbridge Village's collection of New England redware in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Both jars are possibly made by the same maker (they both share very similar characteristics), but to actually attribute it would be near impossible. The Boston Common pot may very-well have traveled from Pennsylvania, if not other distant regions of the country. There is really no known answer. The form, with no known history other than where it was found, is really too common to develop a theory of any known potter. However, I am sure with enough research a strong case could be argued. There would really need to be an extremely strong provenance for an origin and attribution to be determined. For the time being, I will say the Boston Common pot is likely New England-made and dates around 1800 - and other than that, all else is unknown.

The Boston Common site tells the story of generations of diverse people who have called this area their home. The everyday household stories are evident by the period trash that was disposed of as fill within the common's land in year's past. The stories of war to everyday life are unmistakable by what has been left behind for us to examine today.

Boston Common's history is extremely rich in both a storied past and in artifacts - and  with ongoing archaeological digs more of its history is unearthed. It is always a fascinating study when examining an area like Boston and its common area...and especially from a ceramics angle that I enjoy. Due to it being basically a dumping ground, the common has a great deal of household ceramics, but there is no reason why specific elements are found where they are other than only being disposed of.

More research to come...

Agateware: "New-Boston" Pottery part 5

"New-Boston" Pottery's self-described tortoise-shell ware has been my personal focus with recent studies, but according to a previous discussed advertisement, this was not the only means of ceramic that Benjamin Leigh and Jonathan Allman attempted at their Boston manufactory. An American style or imitation of the English ceramic, agateware was apparently also an experiment for Leigh and Allman. The Boston News-Letter of April 12, 1770 ran the following advertisement for Nathaniel Cudworth and such wares.

"Nathaniel Cudworth, informs his customers and others he has removed from a store on King-Street, to a Shop at the South-End, three Doors above the Sign of the Lamb, Where he has to sell", among other listed articles of merchandise, "A good assortment of Tortoise and Agat colour'd Earthen Ware, made in BOSTON, by Leigh and Allman." 

Nathaniel Cudworth was a merchant who worked on King Street at Boston's Merchant's Row (today known as Faneuil Hall). I found a previous advertisement that ran in the Boston Gazette in 1767, where Cudworth advertises the sale of a West Indian Rum. He apparently, like many merchants of the period, offered a great selection of goods that ranged from alcohol to ceramics. It is unclear at this time if Leigh and Allman attempted to sell their ceramic wares through Cudworth or if Cudworth instead, bought the "New-Boston" Pottery  out when the manufactory failed. 

Agateware is a type of ceramic that was purportedly first introduced in early eighteenth century England - and for the period, it was popular amongst the ceramic marketplace. These period ceramics are relatively rare today.

The idea of agateware visually appears as a polychrome colored clay that developed from the use of a variety of clays all used together at once. This method creates a marbleized affect - and in the end resembles what some marbles look like. Agateware has been reportedly dated as far back as the 1730s and associated with Thomas Wedgwood of England.

Thomas Whieldon also of England, has been credited with vastly improving the ware in the 1740s. English potters Josiah Wedgwood, Thomas Astbury and Josiah Spode have also been tied to the ware. It is believed that agateware's popularity and manufacturing died out sometime during the fourth quarter of the eighteenth century.

Agateware, England - 18th Century

Photo Courtesy: Rob Hunter, Ceramics in America

The agateware manufacturing method is not unique to the ceramic industry. The idea has also been used with glass makers. The use of mixed clays has been used with Native Americans and many other cultures over the years across the globe. Gay Head Pottery of Martha's Vineyard produced an agateware-style art pottery during the turn of the twentieth century. The marbleized affect resulted from the Gay Head Cliffs on the island where the clay derived from and was harvested for use. The cliffs contained a mixture of clays and when complete, the pottery visually resembled agateware. The difference in the two being Gay Head Pottery was a decorative accessory, while the wares produced in the eighteenth century were much more refined and intended for a utilitarian purpose. The production of both were also vastly different.

Gay Head Pottery - Martha's Vineyard, Mass

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston

It is under my assumption that like the imitation Thomas Whieldon-style tortoise shell ware, the New England clay beds were not rich enough to support such a refined ceramic as agateware - and in the end, "New-Boston" Pottery was not able to produce the quality ceramic intended.

Thus far, it has been suggested and advertised that an agateware, tortoise-shell ware and possibly a Delftware were all manufactured in eighteenth century Boston. Benjamin Leigh is conceivably involved with all. This is a fascinating part of Boston's history and I cannot wait for more of this story to unfold - and more importantly, I look forward to telling it in time.

Thomas Whieldon Tortoise Shell Plate, England

18th Century
Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston

18th Century Delftware Bowl, England

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston

Please stay tuned. More research to follow...