Incised Figures, Motifs and Decorations on Early Earthenware Products: A Discussion Taken from Various American Museum Collections

The definition of the word incised is when an object or material is cut into in order to make marks, figures, cuttings, engravings, carvings...etc. Its a characteristic early potters sometimes used to decorate their more elaborate earthenware products. Potters all over the world used this technique. It wasn't exclusive to any medium either. All sorts of early ceramics adorned a potter's interpretation with how they perceived to decorate their products with incised designs. Stoneware and earthenware potters in England, France, Spain, China, Japan, Portugal, Germany and America were all known to use these techniques in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was really a global trait that likely dates as far back as does pottery.

Earthenware potters in North Devon, England were known to use this technique in their industry. Products that are likely from North Devon were found in an archaeological context in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Portsmouth is located directly on the Piscataqua River, which was a large import and export waterway before and after the American Revolution. All sorts of products made their way into coastal New Hampshire and southern Maine homes from ships that docked on the Piscataqua in Portsmouth.

The following shards were found at the Deer Street archaeological site in Portsmouth. Deer Street was an area that contained many middle-class homes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The neighborhood was located not far from where Portsmouth's original waterfront was located. The area was removed for a hotel, but before any demolition happened - an intense survey and dig occurred recovering many examples of locally produced red earthenware and imported ceramics. Below you will see incised decorations of a bird  and a tulip on a similar glazed product. These products are known as sgraffito, where the decoration was scratched into slip decoration. Both forms appear to have served as some-type of bowl for utilitarian needs in the household. The bowls are believed to be early nineteenth century products.

The Deer Street archaeological collection is kept at Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, despite it not being involved with the museum. The collection shows a wonderful variety of American, English, Continental European and Chinese ceramics - most of which appear to be early nineteenth century products. The collection really defines how multicultural Portsmouth's harbor was with its imported products from a variety of nations. This variety eventually transcended into the early homes of Portsmouth with a diverse collection of fine dining accessories and a mixture of utilitarian wares.

 Likely North Devon, England Sgraffito Decorated Earthenware Bowl

Likely Early 19th Century

Interior Shows an Incised Bird
Found at Deer Street Archaeological District in Portsmouth, NH

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke Archaeology Dept. - Portsmouth, NH

 Exterior of Earthenware Bowl

Likely Early 19th Century
Found at Deer Street Archaeological District in Portsmouth, NH

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke Archaeology Dept. - Portsmouth, NH

Likely North Devon, England Sgraffito Decorated Earthenware Bowl Shard

Likely Early 19th Century

Interior Shows Incised Tulips & Leaves with Asymmetric and Symmetric Designs Surrounding It
Found at Deer Street Archaeological District in Portsmouth, NH

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke Archaeology Dept. - Portsmouth, NH

Incised decoration was used all over the Atlantic seaboard by American earthenware potters after 1775 well into the nineteenth century. I cannot speak specifically about the work of potters before the American Revolution because not everything is entirely known about the earliest American potters. More information has been retained about the later potters (after 1775) due to the amount of their work that exists today in both archaeology and antique environments. Almost every eastern American region has used incised techniques that has varied from state-to-state, but its use was still evident by what is seen today. It's assumed incision is a natural idea potters think of when they want to decorate a product. There are really three ways to make a product decorative; form, glaze and incised drawing. Form and glaze would typically cost more since a potter would have to use a supply to make it happen. Incised decoration was free -- all it took a potter was time to make that occur. With that understanding - I think an incised decoration would be the most natural and really the easiest to accomplish.

Among my favorite incised products are two particular examples now kept in important museum collections. Each was probably made by the same late eighteenth or early nineteenth century business, if not the same potter in Essex County, Massachusetts. The first example is part of the author, Lura Woodside Watkins collection at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. It was pictured in Watkins book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares - and also Brian Cullity's book, Slipped and Glazed: Regional American Redware. The jar has been exhibited at the Smithsonian and at the Heritage Plantation of Sandwich in Sandwich, Massachusetts. Watkins discovered the jar on Boston's North Shore still in its original context sometime before 1950.

Late 18th or Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Handled Jar

Likely an Essex County, Ma Potter
Found in Essex County, Ma Before 1950 by Lura Woodside Watkins

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

The second example was donated to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. It was included with the furnishings from a group of homes that surround the museum. The contents from these homes were donated at the turn of the twentieth century. All the red earthenware was likely purchased brand-new decades before and strictly intended for utilitarian purposes. Each example was probably acquired from a local merchant in Salem who may have contracted with local red earthenware potters. Most of these potters probably worked a few miles west of Salem in South Danvers (Peabody) or Danversport - or possibly just to the north in Beverly.

Both of these jars are thickly potted, heavy in weight, boldly glazed and covered in decoration. The households that donated their contents to the Peabody Essex Museums in the early 1900s were upscale homes, which may mean these products were expensive and possibly only intended for high-class households. It is possible not a lot were made - and why so few have survived today, but that is all in theory. These jars may have also been intended for a larger audience, which covered all class levels. There is not enough of a collection - whether it being surviving examples or excavated shards to make a true judgement.

These jars were very-well made and intended to last. The condition of each shows they were carefully cared for over the years. Light colored orange halos cover both jars, which indicates the local clays used may have been rich in iron - that when heated in the kiln made a wonderful colorful decoration.

Late 18th or Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Handled Jar

Likely an Essex County, Ma Potter
Taken from a Salem, Ma Home in the Early 1900s

Photo Courtesy: The Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Ma

The jar at the Smithsonian did not have a cover and after reviewing it, I wasn't so sure it was ever intended to have one - but the jar at the Peabody Essex Museum did. That says to me the Smithsonian jar probably had a similar lid at one time. The surviving lid is absolutely wonderful with detailed decoration and a matching bold glaze that covers both the top and the bottom. I do not know if there is a connection, but a lidded crock I wrote of last week showed a similar form. I had felt that lid was made at the Osborn Pottery, which was arguably the most successful business in Essex County; however it is likely that potters influenced each other in the industry and wares may have appeared similar from business-to-business. It is really difficult to properly attribute products made in Essex County to a specific potter since over a hundred potters worked in the area in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

 18th or Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Lid

Likely an Essex County, Ma Potter
Taken from a Salem, Ma Home in the Early 1900s 

Photo Courtesy: The Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Ma

  

 Absolutely Stunning Amount of Decoration

Photo Courtesy: The Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Ma

 Unusual to See Both Sides Glazed

Photo Courtesy: The Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Ma

What really fascinates me about the jars in the Smithsonian and the Peabody Essex Museum -- is the fact each embodies the three ideas of what I perceive to be a potter's decoration. Both show accomplished forms, colorful glazes and extremely artistic incised decoration. Beyond that, they are just beautiful to look at!

I suggest looking closely at the photos in this report and seeing the amount of skill, effort and time that went into the production of these large forms. If anyone has anymore insight into who may have made either of these jars -- I would very-much appreciate hearing about it. Thanks for reading!

Much More to Come...

The Impact of the World's Fair on American Earthenware Potters After 1850

"The world's fairs held from 1851 to 1939 were the venue for communicating and marketing histories, cultures, and ideas to an international audience. The undeniable impact of these events on artisans and manufacturers, and on collectors and museum directors and curators, is demonstrated in decorative arts, their tangible legacy. Among the objects at the fairs were those laden with historical associations, demonstrating the relevance of methods, motifs, and styles from the past on the decorative arts of the present, "that Modern Renaissance," as the critic Walter Smith wrote following the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia."

"The succession of nineteenth-century revival styles-Greek, Gothic, Rococo, Renaissance-also coincided with the advancement of modern machine production in the Western world. The effect was accessible, affordable, popular consumer goods that bore witness to invention as much as to layers and eras of historical design. While revivalism resulted in the pervasiveness of cheap mass-produced, middling-quality decorative arts in America and Europe during the late nineteenth-century, it also contributed to the highest level of craftsmanship and manufacturers, often aided by implementation of historical techniques. Commenting on the 1876 Philadelphia fair, Smith observed." (Busch, Jason T. & Futter, Catherine L, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fair: 1851-1939. Skira Rizzoli Publications, New York, 2012, page 51)

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This excerpt was taken from the book, Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World's Fair: 1851-1939 - it basically sums up the Industrial Revolution post-1850 American potter's industry to me. Most utilitarian potters had to adapt, and in order to do so - machine molded wares were mass-produced by many potters. This enabled many earthenware businesses to reach a large group of consumers. This audience was often much-broader than the utilitarian potters of decades past. However, there were some potters who were able to excel at a higher standard. Those potters were able to adapt to the market and economic demand without jeopardizing the integrity of their product lines. Essentially, the quality was not diminished and instead remained at a high-standard, which was sought after by many consumers from the best red earthenware American utilitarian potters. 

Post-1870 red earthenware potters, like those in the Shanandoah Valley in Virginia, throughout parts of Pennsylvania and parts of New England were able to keep with the market trends, by creating product lines that were unique to the American market. I wrote of the the post-1870 products Charles A. Lawrence made in Beverly, Massachusetts in the January 2014 edition of the New England Antiques Journal, but I have also shown additional products on this website that define this movement. All of the products I have attributed to Lawrence Pottery were either found in a local Beverly context, are known styles, are comparable to shards or were very similar to examples shown in museums with a very-strong attribution.

This small jar recently emerged in a household outside of a New England context; however characteristics seen from the painter's hand suggest Lawrence may have been the potter. If it is not a product of Lawrence Pottery - then it may have been a potter who had been influenced by the whole Grecian Revival Movement happening in New England after 1870. 

The decoration on the jar is exactly as Walter Smith described above at the World's Fair in Philadelphia in 1876. The whole notion of historical association is seen. The jar is dated for the centennial with 1776 written on the left-side of the jar and 1876 shown on the right. The front of the jar shows a hand-painted image of General George Washington from his shoulders up, with crossed cannons and a cannon ball below the portrait. I would like to believe the jar is symbolic of the battle that happened at Dorchester Heights in 1775, which not only marked the first victory by the American patriots in the American Revolution - but also welcomed General Washington to the march for America's independence by-way of his first victory.

That's my interpretation, but its more likely General Washington is an image from the Independence gained in 1776. It's possible this jar was made outside of New England, but the decoration seems too similar to the products made in Massachusetts in the 1870s. It is also possible this jar was made in Chelsea, Massachusetts by Hugh Robertson, who reportedly was largely influenced by the 1876 world's fair. The influences taken from Robertson's experience were later applied to products made at the Chelsea Keramic Arts Works, and later Dedham Pottery in Dedham, Massachusetts in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

  American Red Earthenware Jar, Possibly a Vase

Probably Made in New England, Possibly by a Massachusetts Potter

Front Shows a Portrait of General George Washington

 Left Side is Dated, 1776

Right Side is Dated, 1876

I imagine there were possibly a large group of these jars made, by what I believe to be a New England potter who probably setup or attended the world's fair in Philadelphia in 1876. Characteristics suggest it may have been made at Lawrence Pottery in Beverly or by Hugh Robertson in Chelsea. The real difference between the black painted wares and Grecian products made at these two companies was the clay. Both clays had a distinct feeling. Other characteristics include the paint color, clay color, interior glaze color and the decorative style used by the artist. There are other possible potters for this jar, but it had to have been a potter who was successful enough to have possibly attended the world's fair. In the years that followed the 1876 world's fair, another Massachusetts potter, Moses Paige also exhibited in 1893 (Here is a link to a teapot he made for the fair). Moses owned Paige Pottery in Peabody, Massachusetts - which happened to have been only a matter of miles from Lawrence Pottery in Beverly and Nickerson in Chelsea.  

Before Charles A. Lawrence and Moses Paige owned their own businesses, each trained together at another potter's business in Peabody. Could there be a coincidence here with the world's fair and the jar of this report? I think it's a good question! And just-in-case anyone is thinking it - I do believe the 1876 date to be accurate for when the jar was made.

It's my belief the jar was made by Hugh Robertson in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The largest characteristic   for this attribution is the type of clay, which feels exactly like attributed Grecian products made in the 1870s in Chelsea that are in the collection of Historic New England. Those products feel more like a terra-cotta product rather than red earthenware. That's how this jar feels.

There's also a chance the jar was made in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Hews Pottery, but I have never seen that company use this type of paint before. Hews Pottery was also involved with the world's fairs.

I have previously suggested many times the impact the Industrial Revolution had on the American utilitarian potter's industry, but the world's fair also had an impact. The fair introduced potters to many industries and cultures, which some American potters brought home new ideas for their own products. This is my belief what happened to Charles Lawrence in Beverly in the 1870s, when his product lines really expanded into untraditional forms. This same influence was seen in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Portland, Maine, Concord, New Hampshire and many more potters throughout the eastern seaboard.

Much More to Come...

An Illusive Form - A Red Earthenware Butter Cooler: The Peabody Essex Museum Collection

Peabody Essex Museum Collection Report 1

The Peabody Essex Museum's collection of early eighteenth and nineteenth century earthenware is primarily made up of local Essex County, Massachusetts makers - but there are examples of eighteenth century English slipware and nineteenth century Connecticut red earthenware. The non-Massachusetts forms were donated from mostly anonymous individuals in the twentieth-century. In those cases, the provenience is not very strong.

The forms that were of most interest to me often showed a mundane glaze - but the uses are rather appealing. The majority of the collection was donated on behalf of local homeowners at the turn of the twentieth-century. Most of the earthenware came directly from its original context in a nineteenth century utilitarian setting. Some examples appear to have been brought into Salem from local potters, while others seem to have been imported from England or elsewhere in New England. All of these examples were introduced to Salem's homeowners when they arrived at the local market offered for sale by Salem, Massachusetts merchants and retail shop owners. Salem's economy thrived in the nineteenth-century from its constant exchange of goods for currency. It was an entire cycle in the city that was really led by Salem's important role in the China Trade. Salem's strong economy probably contributed to the strength of the Essex County potter's industry - and likely why the majority of red earthenware found in Salem in the nineteenth-century was made by local potters.

Yesterday, I wrote about a rare lidded earthenware crock. For me personally, it was the first instance where I had seen a traditional red earthenware crock with an intended lid (see above for link to report). Both forms were removed from the potter's wheel by way of a wire - which is not a characteristic regularly attributed to Essex Country potters. I find it more common with potters working in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont rather than in Massachusetts in  the nineteenth-century.

The museum's collection includes rare red earthenware chamber pots, crocks, jugs, plates, jars, individual lids and bean pots. Possibly the rarest of all forms - is a butter cooler that appears like a jug missing its handle. On first site, the butter cooler's form appears like some red earthenware handled jugs made in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. After simple inspection, the butter cooler's base is evidently unique.

19th Century Red Earthenware Butter Cooler

Possibly Made After 1850

Likely Made by an Essex County, Ma Potter
Donated to the Museum from a Salem, Ma Home

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Ma

Inverted Base Seen on Red Earthenware Butter Cooler

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Ma

When I first picked up the jug, and saw the inverted base - I did not know what to think. I removed the cork and saw it appeared like a jug. I was still puzzled as to what its purpose was. The collections manager told me butter was meant to be placed under the jug and cool water was poured into the spout. It acted as a nineteenth-century refrigerator - cool water was continuously added depending on how long the contents had to stay cool for. I think it's safe to say, that an earthenware butter cooler was not limited to only butter - it could have cooled vegetables, fruit, meat and any other perishables. There also may have been different sizes of this form offered for sale.

Butter was Intended to be Placed Underneath the Inverted Base

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Ma

 

A Cool Liquid (Water) Was Poured Into the Jug to Cool the Contents Below It

It Could Have Cooled Additional Objects than Only Butter

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Salem, Ma

This jug or cooler was apart of the donations from local Salem homes at the turn of the twentieth-century. All of the red earthenware that was donated from these residences was purchased by the homeowners and/or caretakers in the nineteenth-century presumably at Salem's marketplace. All the earthenware appears to share characteristics with the typical wares made in South Danvers (Peabody), Danversport and Beverly, Massachusetts. I think it is safe to say this red earthenware butter cooler can be included among this group. The potter is not identified, but it is almost unquestionably an Essex County potter. The form is very rare today.

I have never seen another red earthenware butter cooler made by a New England potter before. It was probably a form that saw less demand than traditional crocks and household utilitarian wares. A butter cooler would have probably seen less daily use than would have more traditional forms. Simply put, it was probably better cared for than most traditional plates, jars, bowls, crocks or pitchers - which were usually used daily, often cleaned daily, occasionally accidentally dropped - or sometimes cracked up against other household objects that caused chips, cracks and even major damage. Those forms were probably handled more. A butter cooler probably sat on a counter or some out of the way place that was not regularly put in any direction of potential harm. It also may not have been considered a household necessity so it may have been a form only upper-class households purchased; however there are always exceptions. All of the homes that donated their belongings to the Peabody Essex Museum, happen to have been high-class eighteenth and nineteenth century households. Regardless of the material culture - its a rather interesting form that I have never seen before.

My curiosities about this piece include how often this form was made, how many New England potters included it in their output and was it strictly a nineteenth century form from American potters - or did it date earlier. The form dates much earlier elsewhere in the world.

Much More to Come...Please Stay Tuned!

Utilitarian Red Earthenware Crocks with Lids?! A Concept I Had Never Considered Before: The Peabody Essex Museum Collection

The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts houses an immense collection of Asian, Oceanic, Maritime, American and related decorative arts - that range from ancient to modern times. The institution is one of America's best kept secrets when it comes to museums. Kept as a part of the collection, are many examples of locally produced red earthenware from nearby Salem homes. The furnishings of a small group of homes, that currently surround the museum were donated at the turn of the twentieth century. All the contents were included - and as part of that donation, were a group of red earthenware utilitarian products that were still in their original context. They were not purchased by the homeowners as novelty or decorative products, but instead as utilitarian wares that were intended for everyday use. They were purchased in the nineteenth century as red earthenware was intended to be. All were likely purchased at the local market in Salem from local potters.

I recently visited the museum to study its collection of earthenware. What I found were many examples that appear to have been made in Essex County, Massachusetts. It seems like the potters who worked in South Danvers (Peabody), Danversport and Beverly were the dominant suppliers in Salem in the nineteenth century. All three communities border Salem with an abundance of local rivers probably acting as a means of transportation into Salem's harbor. These are the results I also found when I reviewed the archaeological collection at the Narbonne House in Salem. The Narbonne House is a late seventeenth century home that remained a middle-class occupancy throughout the twentieth century. Many examples of red earthenware were uncovered in privies in the backyard in a nineteenth century context. All appeared like the traditional forms and glazes usually associated with the industry in South Danvers. The Narbonne House is located on Salem's waterfront directly across the street from the docks. The collection of ceramic artifacts at the house probably represent the types of wares brought into Salem's harbor, which middle-class families could afford during the period.

As part of the red earthenware collection at the Peabody Essex Museum, are a group of classic formed utilitarian crocks; however one example had an unexpected feature that I have never seen before. Placed on top was an earthenware lid.

Essex County, Mass Red Earthenware Crock with a Lid 

Ca. 1800-1860

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Ma

 Essex County, Mass Red Earthenware Lid Intended for a Crock

Ca. 1800-1860

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Ma

Instantly, I did question if the crock and lid were native to each other, but after seeing the base of each display a similar wire cutting technique - I felt both were originally intended together by the potter. The lid does fit well inside the crock. 

The potter used a wire to remove each form from the potter's wheel and this is what caused the rough surface that is seen. I don't know about others reading this report, but this is the first time I have even considered the idea that this form of utilitarian earthenware potentially possessed a lid. I have never seen a comparable lid placed on crocks made by potters from Virginia through Maine before - they may have been made, but this is the first time I have ever seen it. I had always assumed utilitarian crocks were used for either storage or food preparation - and if necessary, a cloth was tied with a rope across the top to seal it like a cover. I assume a lidded crock would have cost more than a crock which was lidless. It's surprising more lids have not survived, which may indicate this was a rare form.

 Essex County, Mass Red Earthenware Lid Intended for a Crock

Notice the Wire Crutting

Ca. 1800-1860

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Ma

Essex County, Mass Red Earthenware Crock

Notice the Wire Cutting

Ca. 1800-1860

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Ma

Shard evidence seen at the old Osborn neighborhood in South Danvers (Peabody) leads me to believe this crock and lid were made at the Osborn Pottery around 1840. I own a similar formed crock, where I found an identical form and glazed shard beneath pine needles on the property of the original Osborn business. Here is a link to that report (see photos 23-25). Could it also have had a lid?

Traditional Brown Glazed Interior on Red Earthenware Crock

Probably Made at the Osborn Pottery - South Danvers, Ma

Ca. 1800-1860

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Essex Museum - Peabody, Ma

The crock without the lid looks like a traditional utilitarian jar. I wonder how many of the surviving American red earthware crocks today originally did have a lid? That's the biggest question that came to my mind when I saw this crock at the Peabody Essex Museum. It's certainly an interesting concept to consider!

Much More to Come...

A Comparison of Decorative Techniques Used in Beverly, Mass, Middlebury, VT and Monmouth, ME

A quick study of the Charles A. Lawrence red earthenware pot discovered in Salem, Massachusetts has revealed a few characteristics applied by potters who came before Lawrence elsewhere in New England. It may be a coincidence or it may not. I have placed the Beverly, Massachusetts made crock next to a traditional William Pecker red earthenware stew pot - made in Merrimacport (West Amesbury), Massachusetts for a size comparison. The Pecker stew pot stands about five inches tall. The Lawrence crock measures nine inches tall, thirteen inches from handle-to-handle and each ring is three inches in diameter.

(Left) Charles A. Lawrence Red Earthenware Crock - Beverly, Ma

Ca. 1866-1891

(Right) William Pecker Red Earthenware Stew Pot - Merrimacport, Ma

Ca. 1790-1820

The first comparable characteristic I noticed is the snowflake-type designs that cover the Beverly pot. The Safford Family Pottery in Monmouth, Maine used a similar design. The Saffords sometimes applied a few subtle snowflakes; however there are other instances where snowflakes were applied all over any given form in rows. Snowflakes were only used in a sparing amount in Monmouth. It wasn't a decoration that adorned a large amount of wares. The snowflakes were usually used when a company stamp was applied or on a finely decorated form.

Safford Pottery Lidded Red Earthenware Crock - Monmouth, Me

Crock Impressed with Safford Pottery Name and Snowflake Designs

Ca. 1840-1860

Photo Courtesy: Maine State Museum - Augusta, Me

Charles A. Lawrence Red Earthenware Crock - Beverly, Ma

Crock Impressed with Many Snowflake Designs

The second comparable characteristic that stands out to me is the use of an applied pie crust edge at the lip of the crock. Pie crusts were used on the most prominent forms made in Middlebury, Vermont by Edwin William Farrer in the nineteenth century. These forms are highly sought after today by museums and accomplished collectors. Pie crust decorations were used on eighteenth and early nineteenth century plates by many utilitarian potters from the Mid-Atlantic region north into New England, but I cannot recall ever having seen it used prominently on a jar like William Edwin Farrer did in Middlebury. Farrer may have been unique with this idea. There are only a handful of these Middlebury examples known to exist today.

Edwin William Farrer Red Earthenware Jar - Middlebury, Vt
Crock Shows a Great Amount of Applied Pie Crust Decoration

Ca. 1840-1860

Photo Courtesy: Art Institute of Chicago - Chicago, Il

Charles A. Lawrence Red Earthenware Crock - Beverly, Ma
Crock Demonstrates Applied Pie Crust All Around the Lip

It seems like the crock Charles A. Lawrence made, may have drawn inspiration from past potters in northern New England. There may be no actual way to prove it, but there is no doubt to me that there are similarities seen from techniques used in Monmouth, Maine and Middlebury, Vermont. The pictures seen on this website really do not do the Beverly crock any justice. It really needs to be seen in person to see the amount of effort that went into its production. It would be really fascinating to learn if the Beverly crock really was partially influenced by designs from other accomplished New England potters. I have a feeling it was!

Much More to Come...

An Incredible Discovery of 19th Century Beverly, Massachusetts Red Earthenware

Earlier today, I possibly came across one of the most significant discoveries of nineteenth century red earthenware made by the potter, Charles A. Lawrence in Beverly, Massachusetts. It may be one of the more important pieces made on Boston's North Shore after 1820. The jar has never previously been offered for sale - and it is my belief, it has not previously been known about by the redware community. I purchased it from an antique dealer in Salem, Massachusetts who just recently pulled it from a home in Beverly. They had stuck silk ornamental purple orchids and leaves into styrofoam inside the jar to offer it as a Valentine's Day gift. As you may have guessed, the orchids, leaves and styrofoam were quickly removed.

I am not sure how to describe the pot more than it serving an ornamental or decorative need. It doesn't appear to have been used very much. The large pot features a wonderful pie crust-style edge around the lip. Stamped snow flake designs are seen all over the pot. Similar snowflakes were used a few years before at the Safford Family Pottery in Monmouth, Maine. Some sort of tool was used to make these snow flakes. It may have been a stamp hand-carved out of wood made special for this pot. The pot shows four handles, which I do not believe were really intended for an actual carrying purpose because loosely attached to each handle is a ring. It is amazing each of these rings have survived. The basic form is similar to a monumental bean pot made by Charles Lawrence for the first mayor of Beverly in 1891. That pot now sits prominently in the library at the Beverly Historical Society.

Until I see another jar like this - it is my belief it may be one-of-a-kind. It may have been made for a special person and/or occasion. The dealer told me the pot had descended through the family in Beverly. I do not believe the family had any relationship to Charles Lawrence, but there may have been a family connection to the business. More genealogy research may identify more about this pot.

The pot is nine inches tall. It measures thirteen inches from handle to handle. Each ring is three inches in diameter. The entire pot was hand-made. Everything was made from a pile of raw clay. Nothing seen was molded.

I am very hesitant to describe this jar as utilitarian - and its not even a cross over piece from the Arts and Crafts Movement. It's utilitarian in appearance, but its decoration appears strictly ornamental. Its definitely been cared for over the years. I would describe this jar as an extremely ornate bean pot, but with no intentions to ever have been used as a bean pot.

I don't think there is much more to write in this report beyond admiring the wonderful accomplishment seen by Lawrence throughout this pot. My breath was nearly taken away when I saw it! I had complete tunnel vision from everything else that surrounded it. In my opinion, this a masterpiece and certainly museum quality.

 Charles A. Lawrence Red Earthenware Monumental Pot - Beverly, Ma

Ca. 1870s or 1880s

 Wonderful Snow Flake Design

 Wonderful Pie Crust Decoration

 Wonderful Ornamental Rings

 Great Form and Great Decoration

  Charles A. Lawrence Red Earthenware Monumental Pot - Beverly, Ma

Ca. 1870s or 1880s

 The Pot Was Entirely Hand-Turned and Hand-Made

  Charles A. Lawrence Red Earthenware Monumental Pot - Beverly, Ma

Ca. 1870s or 1880s

 Typical Base Seen on New England Red Earthenware

 Charles A. Lawrence Red Earthenware Monumental Pot - Beverly, Ma
Ca. 1870s or 1880s

For more information about Charles A. Lawrence's Beverly business - I suggest reading the report I recently wrote for the January 2014 edition of the New England Antiques Journal. Here is a link.

Please Stay Tuned…Much More to Come!

A Pair of Recently Discovered 19th Century Massachusetts Red Earthenware Flower Pots

I have been fortune enough to discover a few interesting flower pots lately made by two separate important nineteenth century Massachusetts earthenware potters. The first was molded at the Hews Pottery probably in the 1870s or the 1880s. The Hews Pottery was started by Abraham Hews in Weston, Massachusetts in the eighteenth century before the business adapted to the needs of the Industrial Revolution - and relocated to a more convenient industrial-type atmosphere in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

This flower pot is an example of the company's molded garden products made after 1860. Dozens of workers were employed in Cambridge, which makes it difficult to associate any potter to the mold. The pot shows decoration in relief with a simple, but vibrant hand-painted exterior. Even more interesting, is seeing an impressed HEWS mark on the base. 

I always look for products made at the Hews Pottery when I am out exploring the shops throughout New England - and this is the first piece I have ever found with a mark. Of all places, I found this pot at a vintage store in my home city of Newburyport, Massachusetts. It was sitting covered in dirt tucked away on the floor surrounded by all types of vintage material. Newburyport is only about thirty miles north of Cambridge situated between the Merrimac River and the Atlantic Ocean on Boston's North Shore. Its anybody's guess as to how the pot found its way north; however the store I discovered it in tends to receive a lot of its inventory from local estates - which makes a local home a strong possibility.

If you compare the painter's or decorator's hand on this pot - to a pot I recently wrote about that I thought may have been made in West Sterling, Massachusetts, you'll notice both hands show an urgency with the small amount of paint that was placed on the inside. I feel both pots are from the same era. I also think both my attributions are accurate. Here is a link to that report.

Hews Pottery Painted Red Eartheware Molded Flower Pot - Cambridge, Ma

Ca. 1870s or 1880s

6 Inches Tall

Found in Newburyport, Ma

The Base is Impressed with the Company Name, HEWS

I was absolutely thrilled when I saw this second pot sitting on a bottom shelf below a street side window in Salem, Massachusetts earlier this week. It was mixed in with about ten or eleven modern flower pots - all of which were roughly the same size. Stuck inside this pot were a few molded terra-cotta flower pots made no more than ten years ago, possibly in China.

I stopped into the shop on my way home from work. I knew exactly what it was when I picked it up. I knew instantly. I spotted the pot from twenty or thirty feet away. This potter happens to be among my favorite American potters. The color of the clay matches the clay seen on a pair of flower pots attributed to Charles A. Lawrence in Beverly, Massachusetts from probably the 1870s. These pots can be seen in the article I wrote about Lawrence Pottery, which was published in the January 2014 edition of the New England Antiques Journal. Here is a link to that report (click the link and look for the flower pots that I am referring to).

The pot was found in a vintage shop in downtown Salem that specializes in house clean outs, downsizing and estate sales. I stop into this particular shop quite a bit and almost always find nothing, but this time I was in the right place at the right time. It doesn't appear to have traveled too far over the years as Beverly is the next town over. I was told it was found in a home in Salem. The pot was sold to me as a simple vintage terra-cotta flower pot with no more description than that.

Lawrence Pottery Attributed Red Earthenware Flower Pot - Beverly, Ma

Ca. 1860s to 1880s

7 3/4 Inches Tall

Found in Salem, Ma

This flower pot's form is exceptional! It stands just under eight inches tall. I have never seen anything like it before. The slightly round rim and rounded base are really interesting. The pot should also not be compared to terra-cotta flower pots, but rather - it feels and appears like an unglazed red earthenware utilitarian crock. It's thickly potted and may date back to the 1860s when Lawrence Pottery was first established. I have a very strong feeling its a product from Lawrence Pottery's first few years of operation.

Very Unusual Rim

The Pot Should Not be Associated with Terra-Cotta Flower Pots

It is Thickly Potted and Feels Like an Unglazed Utilitarian Crock

Both of these pots were unexpected finds - that I am very excited to have come across. You never know what's out there until you look! I really do believe there are many more examples still to be uncovered from a variety of American potters. All you have to do is explore your interests!

Please Stay Tuned…Much More to Come!