A Few New Discoveries - A Tulip Decorated Crock and an Incised SouthernMaine Jug

I have a few new finds to show that my father and I came across today - the first is freshly discovered from a Dover, New Hampshire home. I have written extensively through the growth of this website about the use of tulips on red earthenware products made in Pennsylvania and North Carolina in the eighteenth and early nineteenth-centuries. It's a style that is highly desirable in today's marketplace - and it's equally as rare. The demand is likely stronger than there are products that exist today. I don't typically discuss value here, but to give you an idea of the importantance of tulip ware - some highly decorated sgraffito plates are known to exceed $100,000. These are the products that are typically the standard when it comes to American utilitarian red earthenware. Very few are known to exist - and the Philadelphia Museum of Art owns many of them.

To our luck today, I came across a handled red earthenware crock decorated in slip with four tulips boldly placed along the body. I am not positive on the crock's origin; although the manner in which the tulips were made is very-similar to tulips applied by some potters in Pennsylvania. The base has turned black from all the exposure it has seen over the years from an open flame. The crock is thinly potted and has an eighteenth-century feel to it. I am thrilled to own this piece!

The form reminds me of a similar style that was made in coastal Massachusetts throughout the eighteenth-century. The form dates back to the late seventeenth and early eighteenth-centuries and was especially popular in Essex County.

 Likely 18th Century Red Earthenware Handled Crock

Four Tulips in Slip Decorate the Crock

Found in a Home in Dover, NH

The Crock is Highly Accomplished and Thinly Potted

Stands 10 1/2" Tall

 One of the Four Tulips

The Handle Is Very Well Done

 The Handled Crock is Colorful

The Base is Blacked from Use Over an Open Flame

19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Plate with Tulip Design
Berks County, Pa Origin
10" in Diameter
Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc. - Sparks, Md

19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Plate with Tulip Design and Multi-Colors
Dryville, Pa Origin
8 5/8" in Diamter
To Be Sold at July 19, 2014 Sale
Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc. - Sparks, Md

My father and I also found a brown glazed and brown speckled red earthenware jug that was made in southern Maine. What really stood out to me about this jug was the faint incised straight and wavy line decoration that is very rare to see today from a Maine potter. I have seen similar, but bolder incised shards in a trash pile at the site of the Bickford family pottery in Buxton, Maine - but those are only shards. I cannot recall ever seeing a Maine product still in-tact with this type of decoration on it before. I don't necessarily think this jug is related to the Buxton business, but it shows that the potters in Southern Maine were using the incised wavy and straight line technique that was first made popular in the eighteenth-century in Essex County, Massachusetts. It was also used by the potters in Southeastern Massachusetts. The technique was also used outside of New England.

I actually feel the jug was made in either Hollis or Alfred, Maine - it was also not found far from either of these places - as we discovered it in a Southern Maine shop. It was sold as merely a brown redware jug. Separation in the glaze is also seen - which is often attributed to Maine products here in New England.

I have seen a similar faint wavy and straight line decoration on shards from unglazed flower pots made at the eighteenth and  early nineteenth-century Hews Pottery in Weston, Massachusetts - that are kept at the University of Massachusetts Archaeology Department in Boston; however I do think there is any relationship between those shards and this jug. The glaze, handle, neck and foot are all indicative of Maine's red earthenware industry after 1820.

 19th Century Maine Red Earthenware Jug 

Possibly Made in Alfred or Hollis, Maine

Ca. 1820-1860

Stands 6 1/2" Tall

 This Type of Handle is Usually Associated with Southern Maine Potters

Notice the Faint Wavy and Straight Line Decoration

I have plenty more to tell!

Please Stay Tuned…Much More to Come...

An Unexpected Estate Sale in Beverly, Massachusetts

This morning I woke up in anticipation of exploring a new flea market that I had never visited in Revere, Massachusetts just off Route 1 a few miles north of Boston. Unfortunately, the flea market was a bit of a disappointment seeing that is was not the typical type of flea market that I am accustomed to today: however, I decided to take a bit of a detour on my ride home, where I visited some of the yard sales, which were scheduled to take place in Beverly, Massachusetts. Fortunately, I had thought ahead and I brought my local newspaper, which had all of the Cape Ann, Massachusetts yard sale listings for the day.

After about an hour and six-or-so yard sales later, I decided to call it quits for the morning; however I noticed two road signs, while driving north through Beverly en route to my home in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

According to the colorful signs, there was an estate sale nearby in Beverly that was scheduled to begin in less-than twenty-minutes. I figured "what-the-heck," so I drove to the sale a few blocks away. I was actually surprised when I saw a line of people waiting to get in. Naturally, I had to stop and check it out. All of the roadside signs stated that the estate sale began promptly at 9:00 am.

But I realized when I began to approach the driveway and the nineteenth century house, where the estate sale was held that it had already begun despite my phone saying it was still a few minutes before 9:00 am. The company holding the estate sale was taking people in by numbers based on the time that they had arrived earlier in the morning.

I walked up to the man standing near the checkout table in the paved driveway, who was running the sale and asked for a number - he handed me a piece of paper with the number 44 written on it in marker. As I walked away, the man yelled loudly, "…Numbers 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 can come in." Five minutes or so passed and he yelled again, "…Numbers 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34 can come in." I would say that another five minutes probably passed and he yelled yet, again, "…We're gonna take a few more people - numbers 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43." 

I was next in line - I anxiously awaited to hear my number yelled. Although, in the meantime I couldn't help and notice what people were buying as they made piles directly in front of me near the checkout table of what they had discovered. This was all definitely exciting; however, none of what I saw so far piqued my interest. But everything was definitely old.

While waiting, I asked the man running the estate sale the history of the property and the contents, and he told me that they had belonged to a 90-year-old couple, who lived in the home for decades. He said they first bought the house in the 1940s and they had raised their children in it. He also mentioned that they were antique collectors, who purchased their collection locally. But he also said the family was now liquidating the contents in various stages - this aspect of the estate sale sold the garden accessories, outdoor and utilitarian pottery, porch furnishings and the contents of the garage. The man told me that they were still in the process of determining what to do with the rest of the collection, which remained in the house; although, I assume that most of it will probably remain with family members.

My time had finally come. It was 9:17am when I heard my number yelled, "…Numbers 44, 45, 46, 47 and 48 can come in."

I walked in and quickly saw a number of antique wooden bird houses near the side of the house, which were nice, but nothing that I had to own. I walked directly into the garage first, where I found what might be an early-to-mid-twentieth century red earthenware bird house from Maryland; otherwise, I would say it was made in Georgia.

From there, I began to walk around the house to the backyard, where I was surprised to see dozens of pieces of pottery scattered throughout the yard. A number of the objects also appeared to have been locally made in either Beverly, Massachusetts or Peabody, Massachusetts in the late-nineteenth or early-twentieth century.

I quickly grabbed everything that I felt was made locally. I also assume that these objects had been acquired by the homeowners when they first purchased the property in the 1940s or 1950s, which may indicate that they were found within their original context of local ownership.

Note: I also found a nineteenth century red earthenware animal feeder at this estate sale, which I believe was made locally in Essex County, Massachusetts. This is a subject that I have been studying; whereas, I believe this type of local production would be lost today if it were not for these objects still remaining in these type of contexts. I believe this animal feeder would be attributed to another location today if it were found without a known history.

Estate Sale in Beverly, Mass.

Estate Sale Sign that I Saw in Beverly, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Estate Sale Sign that I Saw in Beverly, Mass.

See Article for More Information

The Contents of this Home were Sold at the Estate Sale

See Article for More Information

I was Told that House was Built in the 19th Century

See Article for More Information

The Side of the House that Leads to the Driveway

See Article for More Information

The Driveway After Everybody Had Their Number Called

I Was Returning for a Second Walk-Through
See Article for More Information

One of the First Customers Leaving Empty Handed - While I Walked Around and I Waited
See Article for More Information

My View as Everybody Picked through the Backyard

This is Where I Waited and I Wondered What was Back There
See Article for More Information

 20th Century Bird House
See Article for More Information

20th Century Bird Houses
See Article for More Information

Some of the Contents in the Garage

See Article for More Information

More of the Contents in the Garage

See Article for More Information

A Spinning Wheel that Sat on the Side of the Garage

See Article for More Information

Pottery Scattered Throughout the Backyard

View of Part of the Backyard Filled with Pottery from the Garage
See Article for More Information

Red Earthenware Bird House

20th Century Red Earthenware Bird House

Probably Made in Maryland or Georgia

See Article for More Information

Painted Red Earthenware Urn, Possibly Grecian-Style

Probably 19th Century Painted Red Earthenware Urn
Probably a Grecian-Style Object Made at the C.A. Lawrence Pottery in Beverly, Mass.
Probably Circa 1872-1900
See Article for More Information

View of the Decoration Below the Rim

See Article for More Information

Red Earthenware Pot and Flower Pot

(Left) 19th Century Red Earthenware Pot Probably Made in Essex County, Mass.

Stands 5 1/4" Tall

See Article for More Information

(Right) 19th or Early-20th Century Red Earthenware Flower Pot 

Probably Made in Peabody, Mass.

Stands 5" Tall

See Article for More Information

Red Earthenware Animal Feeder

19th Century Red Earthenware Animal Feeder

Likely Made in Beverly, Mass. or Peabody, Mass.

Stands 11 1/2" Tall

See Article for More Information

View of the Interior Glaze

See Article for More Information

Pleas Stay Tuned…Much More to Come...

Very Rare Commemorative Red Earthenware Plates Made by a New JerseyPotter in the Early 19th Century

According to the New York State Museum (in Albany, New York), the ensuing plate is described as, "...(A) Redware plate with glazed interior; It is a drape molded circular plate with a serrated edge with a central relief medallion bust of (George) Washington in profile with an arch of thirteen stars (13 colonies) above the portrait and the name, "WASHINGTON" written below...This object was once part of the folk art collection of Elie Nadelman (1882-1946), the avante-garde sculptor. From 1924-1934, Nadelman's collection was displayed in his Museum of Folk Arts, located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx in New York. The Historical Society purchased Nadelman's entire collection in 1937."

The museum also says, "...Due to ongoing research, information about this object is subject to change." No further information about this plate is cited; i.e. maker, region, state or date of manufacture.

 

19th Century Red Earthenware Plate

Ca. Early 19th Century

Center Shows a Portrait of George Washington Surrounded by 13 Stars

Ex Collection of Elie Nadelman

Measures 11 1/8" in Diameter

 Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

The reason I am writing about this subject is because I found a similar plate at a Leo Legare auction in Dover, New Hampshire a few years ago. I do not remember the exact year the auction took place; although I do know it was around the time when I first began collecting redware - so it must have been in the 2004 to 2006 period. I recall walking into the Elks Hall after the auction had already begun on a warm summer night in August. The plate was included in a box lot of ceramics that was sold in the first twenty-five lots. I was in line waiting for a bidder number when I opened the bidding. I raised my hand without a number - and I won the lot for an opening bid of $75. I didn't know much about the plate at the time, but the fact it had a portrait placed directly in the center seemed very-rare and rather interesting to me. I also did not know who the portrait was of - the plate sat on a shelf in my house for four or five years until I really thought more about it.

I initially showed a photo of the plate to long-time collector, mentor and friend - Lewis Scranton of Killingworth, Connecticut in 2011. He told me it was probably made in New Jersey - an attribution I would later find out was correct.

In 2012, I showed Brandt Zipp (Brand'ts Research) of Crocker Farm, Inc in Sparks, Maryland a photo of my plate along with a link to the New York State Museum plate. I wanted to know his thoughts. He said he hadn't seen anything like it before; although he said he would try to find some more information about the plates. He wanted to know for his own records. He told me to let him know if I came up with any additional information on my own. I never did, but in-time, Brandt found a historical society in New Jersey that actually knew the maker of these plates with a few related examples in their collection.

According to the Bergen County Historical Society in New Jersey - the plates were made by the early nineteenth-century potter, Henry Van Saun. The Historical Society writes, "...Earthenware pie plates are counted among the most treasured heirlooms of the (New) Jersey Dutch...Two celebrated Hackensack Valley potters, Henry Van Saun (d. 1829) and George Wolfkiel (1805-1867), produced pie plates at their pottery back shop, situated between Old Bridge (River Edge), New Jersey and New Bridge, New Jersey." Van Saun began the pottery, which was later purchased by Wolfkiel (of Franklin Township, Pennsylvania) in 1847. The businesses were well-known for their slip decorated plates (typically ranged from 5"-15" in diameter) that were sometimes adorned with a customer's initials, name and some plates were even dated. The businesses likely made more household forms than only flatware; however for the sake of this report - I am only explaining the plates, loaf dishes and related forms.

River Edge is located near the Hudson River and about twenty-miles northwest of New York City. The plates were probably intended for a local consumer, but the New York City marketplace was likely a strong destination as well.

 Henry Van Saun Attributed Red Earthenware Plates - River Edge, NJ

Ca. Before 1820

Each Plate is Decorated in Slip with a Person's Name

Photo Courtesy: Bergen County Historical Society - River Edge, NJ

 River Edge, NJ Attributed Red Earthenware Plate

Written in Slip" Hard Times in Jersey"

Ca. 19th Century - Probably Before 1850

Photo Courtesy: Bergen County Historical Society - River Edge, NJ and Waadsworth Anthenium - Hartford, Ct

 George Wolfkiel Attributed Red Earthenware Plates - River Edge, NJ

Each Decorated in Slip Decoration, One Dated, 1848

Both Ca. 1848 and Earlier

Photo Courtesy: Bergen County Historical Society - River Edge, NJ

As I continued to read more about Van Saun's work through the historical society, "...Henry Jacob Van Saun, carpenter, purchased 11 acres between Kinderamack Road and the Hackensack River from Jacob Bogart in December 1811. Here he opened a brickyard and pottery, utilizing glacial clays that mantle the Hackensack Valley...He resided upon 34 acres, extending from Kinderkamack Road west to what is now Van Saun Park, and bounded south by Howland Avenue, which he had purchased from his father, Jacob Van Saun in 1802. Henry Van Saun made earthenware pie plates with embossed medallions of Washington (in a halo of thirteen stars) and Layfayette, probably in 1824-26 to commemorate Lafayette's visit to Hackensack and the 50th Anniversary of America's Independence." Henry Van Saun died in 1829.

Here is a link for more information into who General George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette were; and why Henry Van Saun likely chose these two men to decorate his commemorative plates.

Henry Van Saun Red Earthenware Plates - River Edge, NJ

Each Plates is Decorated with a Bust of Either Washington or Lafayette

Top Plate: Washington

Bottom Plate: Lafayette

Ca. 1824-1826

Photo Courtesy: Bergen County Historical Society - River Edge, NJ

It appears these are exceeding rare plates purportedly only made for a brief three year period from 1824 until 1826. They also appear to have been commemorative items so there were probably not a lot made. I do not know the history of the plate I purchased almost a decade ago, but I do know is was tossed in with a box lot from the contents of a New Hampshire home. All else is unknown. My parents always told me when I first began collecting and attending auctions that I had "...beginners luck." Maybe this is an example of that, which took me nearly a decade to learn how lucky I was to find such a plate in my beginner years. Here is what the plate looks like - it is decorated in a pumpkin-colored orange glaze with a prominent portait in the center.

What is so unusual about this plate is it does not appear like the other portraits seen above - despite the manufacture style being identical. This portrait is of a bearded man. Does anyone have any ideas? This is very likely a portrait from the 1824 to 1826 Van Haus period that has never been identified before. The Bergen County Historical Society has not identified this third figure yet. This plate's figure also appears to have been surrounded in stars just like the Washington plate.

 

Henry Van Saun Red Earthenware Plate -  River Edge, NJ

 Plate Decorated with a Portrait

Size: 12" in Diameter

The Plate Was Found at a Country Auction in a Box Lot in Dover, NH

Close Up of the Bearded Portrait
Appears to be Surrounded in Stars

To my knowledge - there are only four of these plates known; two are in the Bergen County Historical Society in New Jersey (1 Washington Plate, 1 Lafayette Plate), one is in the New York State Museum (1 Washington Plate)  and the last, is the plate I found in New Hampshire (Unknown Figure Plate). In all, there is one Lafayette plate, two Washington plates and an unknown plate that is a figure likely related to Washington and the American Revolution. There may be more out there, but I am not aware of them. I am sure glad I decided to raise my hand and take a chance on that box lot. In my opinion these plates are an important part of New Jersey's utilitarian potter's history; however I also view them as a part of New York City's utilitarian red earthenware history.

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...

A Wonderfully Glazed Red Earthenware Flower Pot Found in Beverly, Massachusetts

Maine red earthenware is among the most-collectible American utilitarian pottery in the antique and decorative arts marketplace today. There are many reasons for this; 1) The glazes were often spectacular, 2) It's very rare, 3) The Maine red earthenware industry was a part of the state's succession from Massachusetts; the majority of the potters really emerged when the state of Maine was founded in 1820 - giving some of its first potters motivation to supply the newly formed state, and 4) There is still a lot to be learned about the Maine potters - and this desired knowledge is what drives many collectors when new forms and glazes emerge today.

About a month ago, I purchased a red earthenware flower pot from a person who cleans out homes in the greater Beverly, Massachusetts area. This particular pot is actually directly fresh from a Beverly home. It had a bunch of fake flowers stuffed inside of it when I first saw it. It looked terrible with the flowers. I'm not sure how anyone thought this looked good.

The pot is in immaculate condition with what I describe as an oatmeal type glaze. It's covered in a grayish-glaze with brown particles scattered throughout it. I think it's a beautiful piece - and the glaze conforms with what part of the potter's industry in southern Maine was doing around the time of the Industrial Revolution. I am not able to specifically attribute this flower pot; although the colors are in keeping with what potters were doing in places like Hollis, Maine and Buxton, Maine in the 1840s, 1850s and 1860s. It's even still in tradition with the products that were made in the 1870s in Buxton. There were many businesses outside of Buxton and Hollis that made red earthenware in places like Portland - and other small towns to Portland's west and south that we still do not entirely understand today - and this pot could also be involved with one of those companies.

It's a form that I have not seen attributed to Maine before; however the trash pile that I saw at the Bickford Pottery (search past reports) in Buxton taught me that there is a great deal to be learned about every potter in the state of Maine. The Bickford Pottery trash pile showed extremely colorful glazes and uncommon Maine forms that I would never have suspected to be a Maine product prior to seeing what I saw. I think what the Buxton site can teach all people interested in Maine utilitarian pottery is that there is plenty more to be learned about each potter in this state. From my own personal experience - I have found that to understand many of the Maine potters that I must venture away from the expected forms (i.e. jugs, pitchers, pans and crocks) to see the vision that all of these potters possessed. This idea can likely hold true for much of the overall American utilitarian potter's red earthenware industry.

A good friend and mentor has said to me many times before, "There's a good chance that we only know as little as 10 percent of what was happening with many early American potters and their output." I completely agree with him. For example, newly found products have opened my eyes to forms made by the potter, William Pecker in Merrimacport, Massachusetts. These new forms have never been attributed before and it's 2014 - Lura Woodside Watkins wrote her important book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares more than sixty-years ago with Pecker being a major focus of her research. I personally feel there is still a lot to be learned about much of the early American red earthenware potter's movement.

Take a look at the flower pot below and be your own judge. It is pictured aside a small crock that was found in Maine by an antiques dealer in 2013 with a similar glaze. 

 (Right) 19th Century Red Earthenware Flower Pot - Possibly Made in Southern Maine

Recently Found in Beverly, Mass

Stands 6" Tall

(Left) Similar Glazed Small 19th Century Crock - Possibly Made in Southern Maine

Found in Maine in 2013 by a Maine Antiques Dealer

Two of These Smalls Crocks Have Now Been Found in Maine - This is the Second

Stands 4" Tall

 Interior of Hand-Turned Pot

 Base of Hand-Turned Pot

 The Clay Color is a Color Sometimes Seen on Southern Maine Red Earthenware Products

It is Similar to the Color Red Seen on Bricks

Wonderful Grey-Colored Glaze that is Covered in Brown Particles

Please Stay Tuned…Much More to Come...

Find: Large-Sized 19th Century Red Earthenware Mixing Bowl Found in North Reading, Massachusetts

"Beginning in the late eighteenth-century potters in Great Britain began manufacturing vessels of yellow firing clay - and with that  it mind, the trade began to spread. By the early nineteenth-century, potters skilled in yellow ware manufacture began to emigrate to the United States…By the latter half of the 1820s it began to gain popularity in America. Yellow ware was being produced en mass in New Jersey, Ohio, Vermont, New York and Maryland in the 1840s and 1850s. Undaunted by the Civil War, yellow ware reached its peak of production in the 1860s and 1870s. It then lost favor to white ware and the newer technology that allowed decorative porcelains to come into being.  Although yellow ware was produced well into the 1930s, for antiquity sake, the turn of the century saw the demise of this so-called utilitarian ware." (Yellow Ware: The Transitional Ceramic, Schiffer, Joan Leibowitz, 2002)

"The introduction of molds and mass production revolutionized the output of yellow ware. England exported huge quantities until the 1870s, when gas-fired kilns increased American production, causing a sharp decline in English imports. Larger, more automated factories were able to produce a wide variety of wares that were described in and sold through catalogs. From the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s, many of the bigger potteries were concentrated in Ohio, especially in Roseville, East Liverpool, Cincinnati, and later Crooksville. English potters had emigrated to the Midwest, and their experience, along with the area's abundant clay deposits, helped the factories thrive." (Kitchen Ceramics, Abbeville, Slesin, Rozensztroch & Cliff, 2007)

19th Century Yellowware Mixing Bowl 

Either an English or an American Potter

Height: 6 1/8" Tall

Diameter: 13 1/4" Across

Ca. 1820-1880

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc. - Sparks, Md

On my way home from an appointment in Boston this afternoon, I came across a very interesting orange glazed red earthenware bowl with an applied foot or base in North Reading, Massachusetts. The reason for all the yellow ware discussion is because this red earthenware bowl reminds of some of those products - and it may have even been made in immitation; however unlike those products, it is actually a red earthenware product probably made by a New England potter in the 1850s, 1860s or 1870s. There's also a chance it was made earlier - I am merely going by what the American utilitarian trends were in the nineteenth-century.

The bowl has been glazed in a bright orange colored glass-like glaze. This color orange was popular with potters in Peabody (South Danvers), Massachusetts; Merrimacport (West Amesbury) Massachusetts and Exeter, New Hampshire. I am not going to specifically attribute this piece, but I will say the crazing (cracking) in the glass-like glaze is usually what happened to glazes in Merrimacport than the typical glazes by potters elsewhere in Essex County or southern New Hampshire. I compared the orange glass-like glaze crazing on the bowl to a few known Merrimacport pieces in my collection - and it is very similar, if not identical.

It's even more interesting when you look inside the bowl where three distinct stacker marks (kiln furniture) are seen (see photos below).

A chip on the side of the bowl shows the clay color is very similar to what is expected with clays of red earthenware products made throughout Essex County, Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

Specifically in Merrimacport, the Chase family was an active group of potters using this glaze color; although the Joseph Reed Pottery in Peabody (South Danvers) and the Lamson Pottery in Exeter were also known for applying this type of color to some of their products. If I was forced to choose - I would lean heavily towards a Merrimacport attribution, but I am not positive of that so don't hold me to it.

These photos below depict the actual color of the bowl. It is really this bold!

 19th Century Red Earthenware Bowl - Probably a Massachusetts Potter

Found Today in North Reading, Massachusetts

Height: 6" Tall

Diameter: 12" Across

Ca. 1840-1880

 Interior of Bowl

Partially Glazed Base or Foot of Bowl

 Notice the Three Distinct Stacker Marks from Kiln Furniture at the Bottom of the Bowl

 Wonderful, Vibrant Colored Orange Glaze

Again,  Notice the Three Distinct Stacker Marks from Kiln Furniture at the Bottom of the Bowl

Bowls of this size were not unheard of in Essex County; here is a link to a report I wrote in April of 2013 - that shows a bowl made in South Danvers (Peabody) before 1840 (likely before 1820) that was dug up on Boston Common in Boston by Boston archaeologists. It is all very interesting to see a bowl like this emerge in North Reading. I have never seen anything like it before; although I am confident it was probably made  in Essex County, Massachusetts or southern New Hampshire between 1850-1870. I think it's a great find!

Please Stay Tuned…Much More to Come...

Rare 19th Century John Corliss Pottery Pot Recently Found at Local Flea Market

While listing a local Essex County, Massachusetts flea market last weekend, I was surprised to see an unusual nineteenth century red earthenware handled pot, which had been brought to the flea market by an antiques dealer from Cape Cod. The dealer told me that he had originally found this object in an old house on Cape Cod about twenty-years ago and since then it has sat on a shelf in his house.

This pot is really in remarkable condition decorated with a raspberry and cream colored glaze on the interior, rim and around the handle, which is also a glaze color that is found with red earthenware produced in places like western New York, Ontario, Vermont and Maine. Although, the handle on this object is unmistakable for the handles that were produced at the John Corliss Pottery in the Days Ferry neighborhood in Woolwich, Maine, circa 1825-1880s.

Note: This is the only time that I have ever seen this form from the John Corliss Pottery in Days Ferry, Maine, circa 1825-1880s.

Rare John Corliss Pottery Pot from Maine

 19th Century Red Earthenware Handled Pot

Attributed to the John Corliss Pottery - Days Ferry, Woolwich, Me
Reportedly Found on Cape Cod in the 1990s

Circa 1825-1880s

Stands 5 1/2" Tall

Rim is 7" in Diameter
See Article for More Information

 View of the Handle
See Article for More Information

View of the Interior Glaze
See Article for More Information

Please Stay Tuned…Much More to Come...