Archaeology of the Clough House, Boston - Report 1

First off, if people are still interested - I would like to keep discussing and analyzing the teapot or punch pot of yesterday's report. I feel it could be an important discovery towards early American ceramics. I have heard many possible origins that are as broad as an American or east coast product. There have been closer suggestions that have included a product of Philadelphia, Nashua NH, New England, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania or possibly an early Scottish or English maker.

My personal feeling is it is without a doubt American made around mid nineteenth-century, but anything is possible in the study of early ceramics. I am most leaning towards a nineteenth-century product of either Nashua, New Hampshire or Philadelphia.

Could it be a product of the Crafts Family who worked throughout nineteenth-century New England? Could it be a product of Thomas Haig's nineteenth-century pottery in Philadelphia? Could an unknown New Jersey maker have manufactured the pot? Huntington Pottery of Long Island? Or is it simply an unknown nineteenth-century maker?

It appears the pot was likely manufactured in the time frame between 1830 and 1850, but it could be earlier.

Both Brandt Zipp of Crocker Farm Auctions in Sparks, Maryland and Jonathan Rickard, former trustee of the American Ceramic Circle and the Antiquarian and Landmarks Society of Hartford, Connecticut have adamantly said to keep in mind that black teapots of the eighteenth and even more so, the nineteenth-centuries were produced all over America by both known and unknown potters. With this in mind - it can be tough to pinpoint an exact teapot to a specific maker without a proper provenance, archaeological evidence or local history.

We may have a local history with the pot's discovery in a Nashua, New Hampshire home recently. The Craft's Family is well-documented having worked in the Nashua area beteen 1840 and 1855. The form however, does not suggest a tie to any of the known forms from the Crafts Family products.

19th Century Teapot or Punch Pot - Likely Made Between 1840 and 1850

Measures 13 Inches Across
May Hold Up to a Gallon of Liquid

Wonderful Form

Lid is Original

Just Discovered in a Nashua, New Hampshire Home

However, with this specific pot, I feel an attribution could become likely. It seems that no one has ever seen a pot of this form on such a large scale before. That means it is likely rare. Could it possibly be a presentation piece? Was it made for a special occasion? The skill is too accomplished to be just another teapot. There must have been a reason for creating such a monumental example. If you don't mind - please keep the suggestions coming. I feel this could be that important.

For more information, here is yesterday's report.

I will try and bring the teapot or punch pot with me to Dish Camp in New York this June so people can get a better understanding of its size.

Okay, now to the topic of today. The archaeology of the Clough House in Boston's North End began last week. The Clough House dates between 1711 and 1715. It has ties to Benjamin Franklin. The building neighbors the Old North Church (Boston's oldest church) and the Paul Revere House. The area has never been dug before and it is assumed that much of the deeper material lives in an undisturbed archaeological site.

The Clough House - Boston, Ma

Site dates between 1711 and 1715

Seen are 3 of the 5 Test Pits 

There Will be a Total of 10 Test Pits When Finished

The Cough House is in Boston's North End

The House is Surrounded by Early Brick Structures

The first few days of digging were slow. The quality ceramic artifacts were limited and to a certain amount - they still are. Not much of importance has been found from a ceramics perspective. Here is a sample look of what has been uncovered so far.

Redware With Unusual Amount of Incised Decoration

Possibly 18th Century

Likely a Domestic Potter

Glazed Only on the Interior
Probably a Form of Hollow ware

Redware or Terracotta Flower Pot Base

Likely 19th Century

Probably a Domestic Potter

Left: 17th or 18th Century Tin Glaze 

Right: Trail Decorated Redware with Slip Decoration

Probably 18th Century

Top Left: 18th or 19th Century Lead Glazed Redware

Possibly a Local Potter

Top Right: Possibly 18th Century Salt Glazed Stoneware
Likely English, German or American in Origin

Bottom Right & Left: 17th or 18th Century Westerwald, German Stoneware

The artifacts thus far have included early ceramics of both domestic and import origin, early bottles, window glass, buttons, bones, possible military, bricks, roof slate, garden slate and such.

The ceramics have included redware, salt glazed stoneware, tin ware, pearlware, westerwald, creamware, metropolitan ware, transfer decorated, early Chinese porcelain and delft ware (country unknown).

On Saturday, this early floor was uncovered. At the least, it is assumed to be early flood boards, but there may be other suggested uses.

Early Wood Floor on Clough House Property

The features in the following test pit were fully uncovered yesterday - and so far, it has been the most exciting day. Take a look.

Test Pit with Possibly Drain or Vent System and Potential for a Capped Privy

At the top of the photo is what appears to be an old drain or vent system. Could it be as simple as a French drain? It appears to be entirely made of slate. It appears early. The interior is lined in brick and is quite deep. The purpose is not known at this time.

The object to the right may be a privy. Whatever it appears to be - we do know that the slate or "tombstone" like object has capped it off. It was discovered sixteen inches below the ground surface. The hope is for a capped and filled-in privy, which is period with the Clough House's property. I am personally hoping for early seventeenth or eighteenth-century redware of a domestic origin to appear - when we begin to remove the artifacts This will hopefully be explored in the next few days. I'll report on that when it's available. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that this does not end up being an actual tomb. I highly doubt it is! The rock used to cap off the interior appears suspicious, but all other evidence leads me to believe it is an early privy.

Close Up of Drain-Like Feature

Close Up of Possible Privy

I am also suspicious to know if the drain-like feature is tied in with the privy-like feature.

My employer, NECN (NBC Universal) in Boston - may be doing a story on this dig in the next few weeks of all the artifacts and features we discover. If that happens, I'll post a link here - for those of you who live outside of New England.

There will be more research and also the results from the Clough House to come...also please, anymore information on the teapot or punch pot would be great! Thank you for all the feedback so far!

Rare Discovery Possibly Thomas Haig's Pottery, Philadelphia or Martin Crafts, Nashua NH Pot

Robert Rackham and Herbert Read introduced the idea of pottery production in the time of the dark ages in their 1929 book, "English Pottery: Its Development from Early Times to the End of the 18th Century." The ensuing brief description made me think of what stoneware's ultimate affect on redware was in the American marketplace of the nineteenth-century. There appears to have been a lack of pottery production after the Roman Empire. Why did this happen? It is suggested that other materials became more important and this is what I believe to have been stoneware's affect on American redware. Stoneware was much more durable and long-lasting than were the porous and fragile redware objects - and as a result, stoneware really helped contribute to the demise of redware in the American household.

"The centuries that elapse between the Roman occupation and the first complete consciousness of the potter's art in the 16th century may well be called the dark ages of English ceramic history...In the first place, we may assume that comparatively little pottery was made - other materials were at once more accessible and more popular."

I think the other materials that both Rackham and Read were referring to can be compared to the decline of the redware market in the second quarter and later half of the nineteenth-century - due to stoneware production and on a much larger scale, the Industrial Era.

The first imported German stoneware products of the sixteenth and seventeenth-centuries - were reportedly called, "stone pots" in the English marketplace. This may be how the term "stoneware" was developed.

In 1684, the English potter - John Dwight, applied for a patent to compete against the stoneware products imported into England from the Cologne region of Germany. Like the Chinese and porcelain - the Germans really mastered the art of stoneware first. Due to popularity, both porcelain and stoneware were imitated the world over.

"The brown-glazed Rhenish stoneware of Frechen, Raeren, and  Cologne was imported into England in great quanity during the 16th and 17th centuries, and it was to be expected that efforts would be made to compete with it by home productions."

This is the same idea of what was happening inside the American colonies more than a hundred years later. Imports from England, Germany, Continental Europe and China were mostly dominating the marketplace in the New World of the sixteenth and early to mid seventeenth-centuries. To compete, American potters began establishing their own manufactories and imitating and experimenting with the Old World styles. As the year's past, techniques and designs differed very little. Styles tended to be past down through generation from father to son or potter to apprentice and as a result, the revolution of the Industrial Era demanded for changes to the American redware product. Potters were not able to adapt to these changes and instead, the industry eventually failed.

Lifestyle habits even began to influence the potters' products. This is likely why the utilitarian idea and use of pottery eventually phased out and is was replaced with a more artistic approach in the latter years of the nineteenth-century.

The idea of lost knowledge can be applied to the history of the entire global ceramic industry. As year's past, the names of many potters are forgotten - and the knowledge of their work is lost. Local memories also disappear in-time. Evidence gathered at archaeological sites can help renew this lost knowledge, but for the small amount of potters who's work is rediscovered through archaeology - that much more is still laying beneath the earth to be found. In some cases, disturbed archaeology sites have lost its knowledge and history forever.

I found the following pot at a Massachusetts flea market over the weekend. The form and size are extremely impressive. New Hampshire dealer Hollis Broderick, Massachusetts dealer Samuel Herrup and myself - all agree it may be made in Philadelphia at Thomas Haig's pottery of the nineteenth-century. It likely has a production date of around 1840. If not Haig - I feel it is at the least an early American product. The form may hold upwards of a gallon of liquid at one time. I had first assumed it was an extremely large teapot, but I have since possibly been corrected.

This redware example may be a case history of a form from Haig's pottery that was lost or another early American potter. I have never seen such an exciting form from any early American potter before. It could possibly be important towards the study of early ceramics.

There have also been suggestions that this teapot may be of early Scottish descent.

Please have a look - I would love to hear some feedback if any readers have thoughts. I feel this could be an important find.

Measures 13 Inches Across from the Handle to the Spout

Measure 8.5 Inches Tall with Lid

Measures 7 3/4 Inches Tall Without Lid
Lid is Original
Made Around Mid 19th Century (Circa 1840-1850)

Wonderful Applied Handle

Very Nice Spout

Top Opening Measures 6 Inches in Diameter

Original Lid Measures 5 Inches in Diameter

Base Measures 5 Inches in Diameter

Hollis Broderick says this example is likely not a teapot and it may instead be what he referred to as a "punch pot." The pot also appears much blacker in person. The camera flash brought out reddish colors that are not really seen in person. The weight is heavy - which is unusual for teapots. Many redware teapots of this period are potted extremely thin. It's not an "unskilled" heavy weight either. It adds to the already visible skill of the potter. Hollis' attribution towards a punch pot may be true.

Like I have just stated, pictures really do this pot no justice. It has to be handled in person.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art owns a teapot that was manufactured at Haig's pottery as part of its own collection of early American pottery. Here is a link. There is no comparison in quality between the teapot kept in the Philadelphia MFA and the punch pot that was discovered yesterday. The punch pot is simply superior in achievement by the potter. The use of dot decoration - the form and makeup of the lid are similar to Haig's work in the Philadelphia MFA.

The seller I purchased the pot from thought it was a lemonade pitcher. They had no idea or appreciation for what it was. They told me it had just been removed from a Nashua, New Hampshire home. I had initially thought it was possibly a product from the Crafts Family of Whately, Massachusetts. The Crafts Family is known for producing early teapots, but in no-way similar to this form. Martin Crafts did work out of Nashua for nearly a ten-year period, but the majority of his work is believed to have been in stoneware. I think an argument could also be made for a Crafts attribution. They are known to have worked in redware in Nashua and after all, that is where this teapot or punch pot was found. Could it possibly be the work of Martin Crafts or the well-documented Crafts Family?

Here is a report that I previously wrote on Martin Crafts and a rare stoneware jug I discovered in Laconia, New Hampshire. Any type of work from Martin Crafts is considered rare in today's marketplace or private collections.

Thomas Crafts Teapot - Whately, Ma

Early 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Ma

I have never before personally seen anything like this from an eighteenth or nineteenth-century American potter. I have seen large teapots, but they were all of twentieth-century mass production efforts. It is my belief that this is a special and extremely rare find. I feel it could possibly be a museum quality piece.

Professional modern potters using throwback styles tend to ask me how many holes are punched at the spout when giving a teapot or in this case, a possibly punch pot - a proper attribution. There are eight holes at the spout.

What are your thoughts?

Anyone can go out and pay top dollar from a respected antiquities dealer for an important example of early American redware, but to actually find one yourself in an unusual or unexpected setting - and attribute it properly, is more than rewarding. It is very exciting! This is what I enjoy most about collector early pottery.

Plenty more to come...

Brimfield, Ma Day 2 - More Early Redware

There were much-less unknown early examples of American redware by dealers on Day 2 in Brimfield, Massachusetts. I feel I had a successful day on Day 1 for a collector. The dealers exhibiting at Hertan's Antique Show - for the most-part, knew what they had. The show featured a small group of the better-known New England antique dealers. Each brought what they described as "Brimfield Quality" to the show. In many cases, the exclusive dealers offered less quality than they would offer at a high-end show, but that does not diminish their quality by that much. Their inventory was still authentic and early.

Have a look at what caught my eye on Day 2:

Notice the Small New England Redware Covered Pitcher on the Second Shelf Down

The size, form and cover are all unusual. The maker is unknown.

Price: $3,800
Photo Courtesy: Greg Kramer Antiques - Robesonia, Pa 

 Photo Courtesy: Greg Kramer Antiques - Robesonia, Pa

Photo Courtesy: Greg Kramer Antiques - Robesonia, Pa

Pennsylvania dealer, Greg Kramer brought a wide range of redware produced in Pennsylvania, Maryland and a variety of northeastern United States makers. His inventory was probably the largest of all the quality Americana dealers exhibiting all week. It is without a question he had more pottery than most dealers combined. The redware all appeared to be early to mid nineteenth-century. A wide range of early American and continental European folk art could also be viewed below the ceilings of his huge roadside tent.

Photo Courtesy: Lewis Scranton - Killingworth, Ct

Connecticut dealer, Lewis Scranton brought a nice selection of nineteenth-century New England made redware. Lewis Scranton is one of the most important names involved with New England redware over the past forty or more years.

Top Left Jar and Flask: Likely Norwalk, Ct

Bottom Lidded Jar:  Likely Norwalk, Ct

Right Jar: Possibly Hervey Brooks - Goshen, Ct. A similar formed jar attributed to Brooks is seen in the book, "The Art of the Potter," by Diana and Garrison Stradling.

Top of Picture Black Jugs: South Danvers, Ma - Probably made by the Osborn Family

Nice Selection of Norwalk, Ct Slip Decorated Plates

19th Century

Price: Bottom Plate - $1,175

Photo Courtesy: Lewis Scranton - Killingworth, Ct

Large Handled Stoneware Jar - Likely a New York Maker

19th Century

Price: $4,000

Photo Courtesy: Paul DeCoste Antiques - West Newbury, Ma

Nicely Glazed New England Redware Jug 

Notice the nice subtle decoration on the handle

Early to Mid 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Samuel Herrup Antiques - Sheffield, Ma

Massachusetts and New York dealer, Samuel Herrup offered this New England made redware jug as part of the dozen or so pieces of redware he and his wife, Sally brought. The jug is fresh to market from a local central Massachusetts home. It's study was very interesting. The glaze is subtle enough that you don't notice much at first, but after close examination, you realize how nicely colored it is. The handle (nice speckled decoration) somewhat resembles the work of John Corliss of Woolwich, Maine. I feel an argument could be made for a Vermont, Massachusetts or Maine attribution. I have never seen the form or possibly the glaze before. It is assumed to be a rare New England maker.

Left: William Pecker Stew Pot - Merrimacport Ma

Late 18th to Early 19th Century

Price: $1,800

Right: Possibly Middlebury, Vt Jar with a Great Glaze

19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Samuel Herrup Antiques - Sheffield, Ma

Mexican Sgraffito Redware Dish

Made Circa 1830

Photo Courtesy: Samuel Herrup Antiques - Sheffield, Ma

This Redware dish offered by Samuel Herrup is believed to be a very important example of nineteenth-century Mexican folk art and pottery. It is featured in the 1908 book, "Maiolica of Mexico" by Edwin Atlee Barber. Both the subject and decoration are wonderful!

This example's decoration is partially described as having a use of "sgraffito." The name "sgraffito" developed from the Italian word sgraffiare which means "to scratch." The use of scratch is used in this dish as a means of decoration. This type of design is much more common in stoneware than it is in redware. It was an old world ceramic technique that transitioned with the settlers of the new world. It's use can be seen within the New York stoneware example above that was offered by Paul DeCoste of West Newbury, Massachusetts.

Possibly Lorenzo Johnson - Newstead Erie County, NY

Mid 19th Century

Price: $500

I feel I have a general understanding about the pottery produced in western upstate New York, but not enough to call myself an expert of any one particular maker or community. I know the work and basic characteristics of Nathaniel Rochester, Lorenzo Johnson and Alvin Wilcox to name a few, but beyond that, my knowledge is limited. A dealer who I will leave unnamed, offered me this jug for $500. I thought the form, size, skill and glaze were all wonderful. The potter was obviously accomplished in his craft. The jug was in near-mint condition. It didn't look like there was much use to it over the years. I do not believe it to have ever had any restoration. The jug all appeared original.

When I first saw this gold and cranberry glazed jug - I immediately thought it was made by the hands of Lorenzo Johnson of Newstead Erie County, New York. Johnson worked in this area during the nineteenth-century. The form appeared similar to what is expected of Johnson. Part of Johnson's wares are thought to imitate the work of stoneware potters. He produced jugs that were similar in design and common form to a stoneware jug of what is assumed to compete with the great stoneware potters of New York. Johnson is known to have occasionally, if not often used a grey glaze, with blue decoration and a company stamp on his jugs. The example above does demonstrate a stoneware jug in form, but the use of glaze is much-more seen in redware from New York and may be unusual on a jug made by Johnson. See the link in the next paragraph for much more information on Johnson and a fine example of his work. Below is an example of an ovoid shaped stoneware jug made in New York. The characteristics in form between the Brimfield redware jug and the Skinner stoneware jug are similar.

Possibly Albany, NY Stoneware Jug

Early to Mid 19th Century

Sold: $3,500

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston

I was not positive with my attribution, but I had a good feeling about it. I guess you could call this my good deed for the day. I told the dealer he should set the jug aside and do much more research with it. I felt the redware jug he had was exceptional and worth much more than what he was offering it for. Here is an auction link to a similar formed and sized jug that sold at Crocker Farm Auctions in Sparks, Maryland a few years ago. That jug was properly attributed to Johnson's work and sold for nearly $5,500. Unlike the example that sold at Crocker Farm, the Brimfield jug was not signed or stamped by the potter. The stamp likely drove the price up significantly at Crocker Farm.

I feel the glaze on the Brimfield jug was much better. Who knows what it was worth or what it would sell for at auction? I felt the dealer should take a second look at what he had.

Are there any Lorenzo Johnson experts reading this? What do you think? I am not positive this jug is a product of western New York State. I feel it is, but I am not positive. The glaze and form resemble characteristics most-often seen in western upstate New York.

Lorenzo Johnson was also known for traditional styles of redware with colorful glazes - aside from these discussed redware jugs. There will be more on western New York state redware in time. The potters of this area were extremely talented and accomplished in all aspects of ceramic production. Outside of New York state, I feel these potters are overlooked today, on a national redware level.

Another dealer had a large offering of what I would describe as common Pennsylvania and mid Atlantic redware. They were all beginner examples in nice condition and looked attractive all grouped together.

Selection of 19th Century American Redware

I will begin research on a new project this weekend (depending on results, it may be a part of my future writing) as part of an important eighteenth-century archaeology dig happening. I will post more on this subject next week. This site has early ties to colonial Boston and possibly both early domestic and imported ceramics.

Much more research to come...

Brimfield, Massachusetts Day 1 - Early American Redware

I spent the day yesterday, picking through all the antique shows in Brimfield, Massachusetts. The weather was nice and what is expected of a spring day in New England. It wasn't too hot or cold and the skies were clear - and most importantly, rain free. I won't share at this time, but I came across a few good finds of early New England redware. In the meantime, I will share a few of the many photos I took in the miles of fields I hunted through.

Norwalk, CT Jar - 19th Century
Price: $2,950

Photo Courtesy: Nancy & Gene Pratt - Victor, NY

It is in my opinion - this jar is the finest example of nineteenth-century Norwalk, Connecticut pottery produced through a combination of form, decoration and glaze. The jar can be considered museum quality and extremely rare with its style of slip decoration on this specific Norwalk form. An early English influence is almost seen through the glaze color and use of slip.

For us in the redware world, Norwalk slip decorated plates with statements such as political ones like, "Washington and Lafayette" or a random person's name slip decorated on a plate or loaf dish are available in the marketplace and private American collections. I had never seen a slip decorated jar like this example produced at the Norwalk potteries before yesterday. This particular jar was featured in an early "Old Time New England" magazine nearly a century ago. The association of Old Time New England, adds an extra wonderful provenance to an already exceptional example. The jar had not sold as of yesterday. Such an important example deserves to be a part of a prominent and well-respected collection.

Possibly Post Revolutionary War Charlestown, Ma or Portsmouth, NH Redware Pitcher

Very Late 18th or Early 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Anita and Ed Holden Antiques - Sherman, Ct and Naples, Fl

I will release more information on this type of pitcher in time. For the moment, I will tell you the form is unusual and so are additional characteristics that are not seen in the photo. The potential work of this potter is involved with my ongoing research.

South Danvers, Ma Redware Jug - Early 19th Century

Possibly from the Osborn Family Shop

This is the most-common South Danvers, Massachusetts (today known as Peabody) nineteenth-century jug form produced by the hands of the Osborn family. This style features an ovoid shaped body and a handle that is attached at the lip.

The Osborn and South Danvers handles are interesting - they usually demonstrate a right to left movement and an attachment from the lip to the body. Colorful glazes were also used on Osborn made jugs. The particular jug was priced at a bargain price of only $45. It had sold by 6:30am - moments after the field had opened. It came from a bottle dealer who does not typically deal in pottery.

Possibly Elijah Lowell - Orange, NH Redware Jug
Price: $260

Early to Mid 19th Century

A similar jug sold as part of long-time collector and auctioneer, Dan Olmstead's collection in September of 2008 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. All of his redware had been picked from local New England homes in the 1970s and 80s.

Olmstead's collection was made up of wonderful examples of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine redware. The pottery collection seen in the Bennington, Vermont's Museum's booklet, attributed a similar form and glazed jug to the work of Elijiah Lowell in nineteenth-century Orange, New Hampshire. However, an argument could also be made for an Essex County, Massachusetts attribution.

American Made Redware Handled Jar
Price: $325- Cracked Down One Side

Early to Mid 19th Century

I find the decoration on these forms very interesting. Many dealers and collectors feel these examples are likely foreign made, but I disagree. A similar jar sold at Freeman's Auctions in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania not too long ago and it was attributed to the Pennsylvania Quakers. The jar is likely mid nineteenth-century. The decoration is great - notice the use of tulips, which is an often-seen characteristic of Pennsylvania potters.

Nice Selection of American Made Redware

All Likely 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Robert Perry Antiques - Buffalo, NY

Top Shelf Far Left: Wonderful sized redware spice jar with original lid. It is likely a New England maker. This was one of my favorite pieces from Day 1.

Top Shelf Middle: Most-likely a very rare Massachusetts maker.

Top Shelf Far Right: Possibly a New Hampshire maker.

Bottom Shelf Far Left: Very rare Georgia redware potter. The jar is signed by the potter on the bottom and dated "1876."

 

Small Pennsylvania Redware Plate
Price: $350

Very Nice Size!

The dealer called this plate a product of the Norwalk, Connecticut potters. He said it was found in Connecticut. I feel it was instead, likely made in Pennsylvania. This is how a lot of people attribute a piece of redware by where it was find. The attribution can often be right on or not even close when this idea is used. Form, style and glaze should be the first ideas taken into consideration before "where  an example was found" is used for a proper attribution. Provenance does often play an important influence in origin and attribution, but it is not the most important.

Huge Redware Bowl! - 19th Century
Price: $225

Likely American Made, Possible English

This bowl or basin was huge! It must have weighed a lot when it was full of whatever its previous uses were. I am not exactly sure where it was made. It is possibly an American product of the nineteenth-century.

More photos from Day 1 and additional from Day 2 in Brimfield will most-likely be posted tomorrow. While my focus is early redware, I'll try and seek out some early ceramics and stoneware later today. Stay tuned!

More research to come...

2013 Wayside Inn Antiques Show - Sudbury, Ma

While I am too young to have gone, the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum in Washington, D.C. - exhibited a nice collection of early Exeter, New Hamphshire made pottery in 1992. The exhibit was called, "Kinsman, Clay and Commerce: The Exeter Pottery Works." I was reading through the exhibit booklet recently and I felt the introduction was worth sharing on this site. A general overview of the evolution and decline of the American redware potter, and industry was defined very-well in the beginning pages.

"For centuries, pottery vessels have been common and essential objects in the everyday lives of people. From early colonial times, in this country, earthenware potters produced simple, utilitarian vessels, to satisfy the domestic needs of their neighbors for food preparation, storage and serving wares. These potters were skilled craftsman, trained by their fathers, or through apprenticeships, and the objects they made reflected the traditions and continuity of this long-lived craft. Thus earthenware vessels produced in the early 19th century - such as lard pots, milk pans, bean pots and jugs - were similar in shape and decoration to those produced in the 17th and 18th centuries. With the arrival of industrialization in the mid-19th century, traditional earthenware potters encountered difficulties adapting to changes in materials, production methods, forms and markets. Unable to adjust to these technological advancements and commercial restructuring, many potters were forced to end earthenware production."

I gave the idea of the Industrial Era's impact on the early American potter some-thought yesterday. I can only think of two New England companies that began as seventeenth-century potters - where a shop was setup to supplement the income of a poor farmer, turned part-time redware potter and  eventually adapted to the evolving marketplace in the mid to later years of the 1800s. This was the idea behind the museum exhibit of the work produced at the Exeter Pottery Works. This company, was in-fact one of the few companies who did adapt from a small-time operation in the seventeenth-century and conformed to the economic changes of the Industrial Era.

I thought the idea over-well.

The six companies operating in Norwalk, Connecticut could be compared to this type of industrial success, but I am not positive there was a well-documented seventeenth-century kiln working in Norwalk. It appears the manufacturing styles of the Norwalk companies began with an industrial idea rather than a startup business. The setup was surely an industrial type, but I think it may have been mainly a nineteenth-century operation which had really died out by 1880. With these given facts, the Norwalk operation may very-well be ruled out due to its lack of a start-up nature.

The only other New England company I could think of - that adapted-well to these changes, was Hews Pottery who began in Weston, Massachusetts in 1771 before moving to North Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1871. The move marked the company's understanding of the industry needs and their desire to compete. Hews Pottery really is the American benchmark of an early earthenware company who consistently transformed itself into the needs created by rends in the market, in order to keep relevant in an ever-changing economy.

Both Hews Pottery and the Exeter Pottery Works operated through the span of three centuries, into the early 1900s.

I wrote a detailed report about the lifespan and endurance of Hews Pottery in January.
Abraham Hews Pottery Report

Over the weekend, I visited the Wayside Inn Antique Show in Sudbury, Massachusetts. The event is sponsored by Skinner Auctions of Boston and Marlborough, Massachusetts. The setting is extremely nice. It is held at the Inn and nestled along a very nice country-type setting with plenty of scenery, water and history. The Wayside Inn is the country's oldest operating Inn and has been a stop for many roadside visitors since 1716.

The event's floor plan felt different than it was in year's past. The dealer room settings were smaller and some of the usual exhibitors were not in attendance. However, it was still a nice show to attend. Here are what I describe as some of the redware highlights from Saturday.

Exceptional Massachusetts Redware Jug - Early 19th Century

There have been both North Shore versus South Shore suggestions

Priced: $8,500
Jug owns a Newburyport, Ma provenance that dates back to the 1960s

Photo Courtesy: Paul DeCoste Antiques - West Newbury, Ma

Left: William Pecker Redware Jar - Lid Not Original 

Merrimacport, Ma - Late 18th or Early 19th Century

Price: $1,850

Right: Norwalk, CT Redware Jar - 19th Century
William Pecker and Connecticut Jars are Very Similar and Tough to Tell Apart

Photo Courtesy: Paul DeCoste Antiques - West Newbury, Ma

Southeastern Massachusetts Redware Jar - Early 19th Century

Price: $2,150

Photo Courtesy: Paul DeCoste Antiques - West Newbury, Ma

These Were Both Wonderful Jars that Compliment Each Other Very-Well!

Left: New York State Jar with Great Decoration - 19th Century

Price: $5,500 - Old Make-Do Repairs

Right: New York State Jar with Equally Great Decoration - 19th Century

Price: $8,500

Photo Courtesy: Stephen-Douglas Antiques - Rockingham, VT

Possibly Long Island, New York (Huntington Pottery) Loaf Dish

Likely Early to Mid 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Stephen-Douglas Antiques - Rockingham, VT

Southeastern, Massachusetts Redware Plate or Dish
Early 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Brian Cullity Antiques - Sagamore, Ma

Bucks County, Pa Redware Plate or Dish
Early to Mid 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Axtell Antiques - Deposit, NY

Notice the forms on both the Bucks County, Pennsylvania and Southeastern, Massachusetts dishes. They are both similar despite the makers working in two completely different regions. Both were likely made around the same time in the early years of the nineteenth-century.

George Ohr Art Pottery Jar - Biloxi, Ms

Price: $1,850

George Ohr was an art potter who worked out of Biloxi, Mississippi in the later years of the nineteenth-century. He is arguably the greatest American potter to have lived. He was known as the "Mad Potter of Biloxi" - for what I assume was his creative and unique style of design. Ohr's work is represented in museums in nearly all 50 states. More on Ohr in-time.

George Ohr

"The Mad Potter of Biloxi, Mississippi"

Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia.com

Wonderfully Decorated Early English Dish

Circa 1740-1780

Price: $6,500

Photo Courtesy: Elliott & Grace Snyder - South Egremont, Ma

Take a look at this jug. It was likely "cooked" in the potter's kiln and dates around the nineteenth-century. For those of you who do not know, this was not intended. It was recently discovered in a home in Southern, New Hampshire. I attempted to guess a possible maker for the dealer, but the lack of maker's characteristics prevented much of a legitimate attribution. I will guess and say it is either New Hampshire or Essex County, Massachusetts made, but I have no real evidence for this suggestion, aside from where the jug was found.

19th Century American Redware Jug - Likely New England Made

Photo Courtesy: Collette Donovan Antiques - Merrimacport, Ma

Any thoughts on the jug?? I may write about it more this week. It would be great to hear a potter's perspective.

I am off to the Brimfield, Massachusetts antique shows for the next two days. Hopefully there will be some good picking for early redware!

More research to come...

Early 17th Century Dutch Art and Continental Ceramics

I have always had a fascination with art work created by the Dutch of the seventeenth-century. Outside of such nineteenth-century American artists as Fitz Henry Lane, William Bradford, Martin Johnson Heade, Thomas Cole, Thomas Chambers, Frederic Edwin Church and the many other New England, Hudson River Valley and American maritime artists - Dutch still-life has always been a subject, I enjoy viewing when visiting a museum or fine art auction.

Fitz Henry (Hugh) Lane - Gloucester, Ma

"Manchester, Ma Harbor" - 19th Century 

Signed and Dated: F.H. Lane, 1853

Sold for $5,500,000 in 2004

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc - Boston

The era is known today as the, "Dutch Golden Age" of painting. In the art world, each global country technically has a period known as its own "Golden Age," when the area's artistic ideas were arguably the most prominent. The Dutch era, was a period in Netherland's history that some-what ignored the popular use of religion in art. Religion was a major influence in  nearly all artwork (no matter the origin) of this period. The Dutch style was unusual and unlike what much of continental Europe was known for of the seventeenth-century.

To be a little more specific, the surviving Dutch still-life of this era is extremely accomplished and foretelling of what the typical household lifestyle may have been like. I am not positive, but I believe the Dutch were the first skilled artists to really put the idea of "still-life" into artwork.

A conventional nineteenth or twentieth-century still-life of European or American origin, can be viewed as a figment of someone's imagination. The scene was typically staged by the artist and in most-cases, the scene is not real whatsoever. The still-life examples of the Dutch are more real than any other eras where this type of painting or drawing was used. Despite lacking any real people or characters within the art, the scenes typically demonstrate an action, where a vision could be attained of what events preceded the painting. Even if the artist did not demonstrate the aftermath of an event - a staged still-life of this period still established a scene that was not altered or fantasized from real-life to the actual canvas.

The later work of European abstract artists are especially known for their skill within the still-life medium. In this field of craft, emotion and feeling are sensationalized in the art . The painting does not necessarily represent the subject as it appears in real-life.

Expressionism and impressionism were both popular in Europe, but neither of these techniques properly demonstrate an actual object. The real-life to canvas transfer was not accurately characterized.

Many later artists followed the work of the seventeenth-century Dutch still-life painters through imitation, but that's all it really was. I guess the saying, "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" may stand true here. It is an idea for an artist to flawlessly copy someone else's skilled technique or even an era's (and some art enthusiasts may prefer imitation), but for me personally, the real-life subjects of the Dutch sets their art far apart from all other imitations and the later still-life techniques.

During the Golden Age, the Dutch were known for achieving many art styles that included - portraits, common-life, landscapes, cityscapes, maritime and my personal favorite, still life.

The number one reason I enjoy early Dutch still-life's - many of these examples demonstrate the use of early utilitarian ceramics in the household. Below are fine examples of both Dutch "common life" and "still-life" paintings of the Golden Age that establish the use of pottery.

Artist: Johannes Vermeer - Dutch

Circa 1632-1675

Possibly a 16th or 17th Century Westerwald, Germany Pewter Covered Pitcher

Continental European Redware Pitcher (Possibly Pouring Milk?)

Double Handled Redware Bowl
"Common-Life" Example

School of Jan Davidsz de Heem - Dutch

Circa 1606-1684

Likely a 16th or 17th Century Westerwald, Germany Pewter Covered Pitcher or Jug

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc - Boston
"Still-Life" Example

Hubert Van Ravesteyn - Dutch

1638-1691

16th or 17th Century Delft Stoneware Jug with Pewter or Silver Cover

Sold for  $482,500 in 2013

Photo Courtesy: Christie's Auctions - NY, NY

"Still-Life" Example

Cornelis van Lelienbergh - Dutch

Circa 1626-1676

Likely a 16th or 17th Century Westwerwald, Germany Stoneware Pitcher

Sold for $126,800 in 2007

Photo Courtesy: Christie's Auctions - Amerstadam, Netherlands

"Still-Life" Example

Pieter van Steenwijck - Dutch

Circa 1615-1656

16th or 17th Century Redware, Stoneware and Possibly Delft All Demonstrated

Photo Courtesy: Christie's Auctions - London, England
"Still-Life" Example

Very early art is as close as one can get to photography. The Dutch art of this period paints a portrait that allows a person to see how ceramics were really used in early continental homes. It's an idea to read about the use of utilitarian wares in a book, but to see it actually put onto a canvas in color in what is assumed a real-life setting - is whole other idea.

The world of art was actually my first study in the field of antiques and early decorative arts. It was a part of my studies in college. I feel a general understanding of fine art gives a really good foundation for any antique dealer or collector to work from. If you can see the art in furniture, ceramics or any other decorative arts - it allows you to see aspects of the makers skill that others may not pick up on. I think having a small art background has only benefited my ceramic studies.

I will admit, I do enjoy art very-much, but my feeling has always been that fine art deserves wall space for everyone to enjoy. Exceptional examples of art are desired the world-over by extreme and prestigious collectors. These collectors are the ones who set the standard for what an example is worth. Records are consistently broken and set. The wall space I am suggesting is that of which belongs to museums or public institutions. All art is one of a kind. My belief is everyone should be able to enjoy important art and some examples cannot be seen outside of private collections. That's kind of my belief is that most accomplished art belongs in a safe public atmosphere, but proper funding to compete with private collectors becomes a whole other discussion.

Let me finish with these two ideas: Are the prices in today's fine art world an accurate representation of an artist's or painting's self-worth? Or do they actually reflect the views of the filthy rich the world-over and what they are willing to pay? I've always wondered about this idea. Comments?

More research on early ceramics to come...