EarlyAmericanCeramics.com

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

An Unusual and Possibly Rare Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Jug Currently Without a Defined Origin

A few weeks ago, I wrote about an extremely rare red earthenware vase made by the late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century red earthenware and stoneware potter, William Pecker of Merrimacport (formerly West Amesbury), Massachusetts. Previously, I had never seen such a form from Pecker before. The most common forms seen from this potter today (and none of Pecker's work should be considered common) are stew pots, pitchers and herb pots. The vase was extremely well made - and actually more thickly potted than some of Pecker's more traditional forms. The vase was found by an accomplished picker in a Rhode Island home earlier this year.

That same picker also found this wonderfully slip decorated miniature handled jug in Rhode Island. I am not sure if the Pecker vase and miniature jug were discovered in the same home at this time - so for the sake of this report, let's assume they were not.

The miniature jug is fragile. It was thinly potted by a very skilled potter. The jug appears like it may have had a lid at one time, but I am not positive of that either. There is very little wear beyond the small amount seen around the edge of the lip; although a lack of wear or a great deal of it should not always be an indicator of age. There are many ways material culture can contribute to a form's condition today; probably the number one contributor is merely that some pieces were cared for more than others over the years

Other characteristics I would like to point out; the handle is also fragile, the unusual base and the manner in which the slip was applied actually reminds me of a stencil. To me personally, it appears like a unique piece that if there was a purpose it was specific - it wasn't like some forms that could be used for any given number of specific needs.

I am not aware of this jug's age or its origin; however it is a piece that I do enjoy as part of my collection - and I wanted to share it on this website.

It should be important to note that these pictures were not taken in direct sunlight and without a camera flash because I did not want the slip decoration to be diluted from how it actually appears in person. The colors are all correct in these photos; although envision the jug a little brighter when light is reflected on it. The jug is pictured between two glass insulators for an accurate size comparison.

Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Handled Jug

Age Unknown - Although it Appears 19th Century

Origin Also Unknown

Measures 2 3/4" Tall

Recently Found by an Accomplished Picker in a Rhode Island Home

The Slip Decoration Appears Like it May Have Been Applied by a Stencil

Another View of the Slip Decoration

View of the Handle

View of the Interior

Another View of the Slip Decoration

A quick look ahead: I will be attending an estate sale (where everything must go from the cellar to the attic) in Beverly, Massachusetts this coming Saturday morning. It's an early home - so I am hopeful I will dig out a story or two to tell.

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

Sunday, September 14, 2014

The Locally Made Red Earthenware Discovered at an Onsite Sale at Historic Centre Farm in Lynnfield, Massachusetts

I spent the majority of my weekend in Lynnfield, Massachusetts at an onsite auction hosted by Amesbury, Massachusetts auctioneer, John McInnis, where he sold the contents of Lynnfield's most historic piece of property, 'Centre Farm,' which was originally built in 1714. Although, there are sections of the home that were added later in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The property was purchased by the town of Lynnfield earlier this summer; however all of the contents had to go. Most of the furnishings were purchased by the current homeowners - Dr. Afred M. and Maureen Donovan in the twentieth century. It was also in this home where the couple raised eleven children.

The original contents of the home were reportedly auctioned off before the Donovans bought the property, but there were some old objects that still remained and descended with this family's ownership.

According to John McInnis, "'The Historic home and land has been recently purchased by the Town of Lynnfield to be preserved. The Trustees have hired our firm to sell the entire contents of the house, safe deposit boxes, carriage house and barn. There will be something for everyone to match your individual style and taste. Due to the large quantities of items many will be grouped together and sold in large lots.

The first day of the sale featured most of the finer furnishings, which included a wonderful eighteenth century North Carolina-made secretary that sold for $40,000 (without premiums) to a bidder from Virginia. Whereas, I managed to purchase a wonderful nineteenth century painting of a local home in Wakefield, Massachusetts that some may have seen posted to my Facebook page yesterday. Unfortunately, the Wakefield home was torn down in the twentieth century for a telephone company. However, this sale also included a number of examples of fine art, a collection of Fitz Henry Lane prints, a huge collection of jewelry, a Babe Ruth autographed baseball, period furniture, medical instruments and so much more!

Day 1 Onsite Sale in Lynnfield, Massachusetts

Day 1 Auction at Centre Farm - Lynnfield, MA
See Article for More Information

As fun as the Saturday sale was, I was really interested in the Sunday portion of the sale because the contents of the barn would be sold. I had a feeling there would be some utilitarian pottery pulled from the barn that may have been acquired locally by the Donovans, which may have been made at the potter's industry in Peabody, Massachusetts.

I had actually asked John McInnis if there was any pottery hidden in the barn on Saturday, but he could not recall because the barn was so full; although, I had a feeling something would emerge so I decided to attend the second day of the auction, as well.

Day 2 Onsite Sale in Lynnfield, Massachusetts

Day 2 Auction at Centre Farm - Lynnfield, MA
See Article for More Information

Red Earthenware Discovered at Centre Farm in Lynnfield, Massachusetts
These may not be the most exciting examples of red earthenware, but they are helpful since they were likely made locally in the 1800s. I suspect that the Donovans purchased these objects in the Lynnfield-area, and Peabody is also a neighboring community. The pan is especially interesting since it was manufactured with handles, which is a style that is rarely identified to the Essex County, Massachusetts potter's industry today.

(Back) Likely S. Danvers (Peabody), MA Red Earthenware Crock

Circa Early-to-Mid 19th Century

Stands 10 3/4" Tall
See Article for More Information

(From) Likely S. Danvers (Peabody), Ma Red Earthenware Crock

Circa Early-to-Late 19th Century

Stands 6" Tall
See Article for More Information

Likely S. Danvers (Peabody), Ma Red Earthenware Pan

Circa Early-to-Mid 19th Century

Measures 17 1/2" in Diameter

Stands 4 1/2" Tall
See Article for More Information

View of the Pan's Base and One Handle
See Article for More Information

View of One of the Handles
See Article for More Information

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

Monday, September 8, 2014

A Very-Rare 19th Century Red Earthewnare Vase that Recently Emerged from a Home in Rhode Island

The definition of a vase; a vessel, as of glass, porcelain, earthenware, or metal , usually higher than it is wide, used chiefly to hold cut flowers or decoration.

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The term rare can be used towards multiple ideas when analyzing today's early American utilitarian pottery market. I feel it can be applied when there are only a few known examples of a particular style - such as form, decoration, glaze, maker or location/region; however it can also be applied when a form is rare solely because that particular object is one-of-a-kind. For me personally, when I think of the word rare - the idea, very-few pops into my head - but the word's interpretation may vary from person-to-person.

A really terrific example of William Pecker (Merrimacport, Mass - Ca. 1790-1820) red earthenware recently emerged from a home in Rhode Island in the form of a vase. I have never seen such a style produced in Merrimacport previously to the Industrial Era (second half of the nineteenth-century) - and especially nothing from Pecker's business. I have seen a vase (that will be featured in a research report I wrote for the October 2014 New England Antiques Journal) made in Merrimacport during the 1870s or the 1880s (business was run by Pecker's relatives), but I was shocked to see this vase likley made more than fifty-years prior.

The products from Pecker's business mostly seen today are in the forms of pitchers, jugs, stew pots and herb pots - but I also know of a rare handled bowl, a rare cup and a rare flask; although this is the first vase I have ever seen. It's also quite nice considering it is freshly picked. This vase isn't something that has been available in the marketplace before - so I take extra pride in that.

Vases were really a product that become popular with the Art Pottery Movement after 1870 - late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century utilitarian potters typically focused on more traditional kitchen needs. They were not known for more formal decorative products. With that idea in mind, a product made for a decorative purpose only a few decades after the American Revolution is rather fascinating to me. How many decorative-type products could Pecker's business have actually produced?

This vase has a nice amount of weight to it. It features Pecker's traditional pumpkin-orange glaze with manganese decoration placed on top. I believe this vase is an example of Pecker's nineteenth-century work (Ca. 1800-1820). It is glazed on both the interior and the exterior.

I am curious to know what the vase's purpose was intended for - even though I assume it was designed for a nice floral arrangement. Any type of red earthenware vase from an American utilitarian potter is consider very rare today. I would expect that a vase is a form that Pecker's business would have made less of when compared to the more traditional kitchen forms. It is something that I was really in awe of when I handled it for the first time yesterday.

Take a look at what I am talking about...

19th Century William Pecker Pottery Red Earthenware Vase - Merrimacport, Ma

Ca. 1790-1820

Recently Found in a Home in Rhode Island

Stands 6" Tall

Another View of the Vase and Glaze

I am going to leave you with this wonderfully glazed small red earthenware pitcher made in Western New York around the mid-nineteenth-century. It recently surfaced privately from a small Pennsylvania pottery collection. The pitcher is covered in a cream and green glaze; however, part of the cream mixed with the green and it created a partial blueish glaze (a nearly unheard of early glaze color). I feel the nineteenth-century Western New York potters, as a group - are some of the most underrated, but also the most accomplished potters through form and glaze of all the known early American utilitarian potter's regions.

19th Century Western New York Small Red Earthenware Pitcher

Ca. 1840-1860

Recently Surfaced from a Small Pennsylvania Pottery Collection

Stands 5" Tall

It's also my nephew, Jason's birthday today - he's 11. Here he is with my niece, Alexis for birthday cake earlier tonight. Unfortunately, he didn't get any pottery for his birthday. Maybe next year!

My Nephew, Jason Turned 11 Today

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

Saturday, September 6, 2014

An Incredibly Glazed 19th Century Red Earthenware Handled Jar Found in Portland, Maine

According to Lura Woodside Watkins book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares, "The first Maine pottery that started in the nineteenth-century was in Portland. It was built by Benjamin Dodge in 1801, a short time after his arrival from his native town of Exeter, New Hampshire." The Dodge Pottery operated well into the nineteenth-century under the direction of Benjamin and later his son, also Benjamin. The business operated until 1875 or 1876. Unfortunately, not a lot has been attributed to this business today; although there are a handful of products known that bear the mark, B. Dodge Portland. Many of the known products are extraordinary in color, form and skill. It has always fascinated me why so little is known about a company that operated for three-quarters of a century in a major New England maritime community. It seems like more is known about the smaller country potters that worked to the west of Portland in southern Maine than the Dodge Pottery, a business that I perceive to have been a large operation.

I should also point out that it is believed the Dodge Pottery began earlier than Watkins describes above (1801) - the business likely dates back to the late 1780s or the early 1790s.

Benjamin Dodge Red Earthenware Bowl - Portland, Me

Circa 1835-1875

Measures 15 1/4" in Diameter

Stands 4 1/2" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Ma

B. Dodge Portland Stamp Seen on the Red Earthenware Bowl Above

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Ma

Dodge Pottery Red Earthenware Flower Pot - Portland, Me

Ca. 1840

The Flower Pot is in Two Parts

Photo Courtesy: The Maine Historical Society - Portland, Me

Interestingly, the Maine State Museum owns a pair of spice jars that are attributed to the Kendrick Pottery in Hollis, Maine (a potter's business that worked to the west of Portland); however I feel (along with others) that this may be an inaccurate attribution. The lid on one of the jars seen below (both would have had a similar lid) appear like a known form of lid properly attributed to the Dodge Pottery today. I feel spice jars were a popular product made by potters in Portland and southern Maine in the nineteenth-century. It has been proven that at least a few of this region's potters had an interest in spice jars, but I think the list could be greater than what is known today.

19th Century Red Earthenware Lidded Spice Jar

Likely Made at the Dodge Pottery - Portland, Me

The Name, GINGER Has Been Stenciled

The Lid is a Form Usually Attributed to the Dodge Pottery

Ca. 1820-1860

Photo Courtesy: The Maine State Museum - Augusta, Me

19th Century Red Earthenware Lidded Spice Jar
Likely Made at the Dodge Pottery - Portland, Me
The Name, ALLSPICE Has Been Stenciled
This Jar's Lid is Missing
Ca. 1820-1860
Photo Courtesy: The Maine State Museum - Augusta, Me

I visited friends today in southern Maine for a few hours - and afterwards, I traveled about twenty-miles to an indoor flea market held year round in Portland known as the, Flea-For-All. The venue featured an eclectic assortment of products that varied from legitimate antiques to more decorative products. I had never been before and I was merely curious to what I may see. I always say, you never know what may be if you don't look.

Flea-For-All Flea Market in Portland, Me

On the second floor of the flea market, I found a fascinating red earthenware handled jug that really grabbed my attention immediately. The exterior is completely covered in a fatty and oily type substance. Massachusetts potter, Rick Hamelin taught me a few years ago to dribble a little bit of water on red earthenware products that appear like they may have been used for dairy needs. He said that way if the water beads (from fatty or oily texture) then the product likely served a dairy need. That's exactly what happened with this handled jug. The water beaded all over it. No matter where I put the water; base, interior or exterior, it beaded. You can actually feel the fatty and oily texture all over the jar. What really grabbed my attention is the incredible cream and raspberry glazed interior. On top of that glaze, the potter carefully placed slip and manganese that partially streaked into the interior. I have never seen a slip and manganese decoration like this applied in Maine before; however the raspberry and cream glaze was used by potters all over Maine.

At the checkout, I asked them where the jug came from - and they told me it was found in an old home in Portland.

If you also look at the form, you'll notice the rim is really squared off. This technique was also used at the Clark Pottery in central New Hampshire around the same time this handled jug likely dates from. If you look even closer, you will notice a few carefully placed incised lines directly below the rim.

I have no way to prove if this jar was made at the Dodge Pottery in Portland because I have no sherds to go by and also, very little has been documented about the products made at this business. I do feel it could be American-made, but truthfully, there's also a strong chance it is an import. The handle and use of slip seems foreign to me. It is definitely an interesting piece! Take a look at it...

19th Century Red Earthenware Handled Jug
Found Today in Portland, Me
Originally Found in a Home in Portland, Me
Stands 9 1/4" Tall
The Jar is Covered in a Fatty and Oily Substance
It Was Probably Used for Dairy Products

Another View of the Exterior of the Handled Jug

View of the Handle

Squared-Off Rim with Incised Lines Directly Below

Incredible Interior Glaze

Wonderful Use of Colors

Another View of the Interior

Base of the Handled Jar

Please Stay Tuned…Much More to Come...

Friday, September 5, 2014

A Large Seymour Pottery Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Jar that Recently Emerged From a Danbury, Connecticut Home

According to Lura Woodside Watkins' book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares, "Nathaniel Seymour built his kiln about 1790 at the southeast corner of Park Street and Quaker Lane in West Hartford (Connecticut). Until 1825, Seymour's output was wholly (red) earthenware made of native clay…A great deal of ware was produced in this pottery. Four men were employed to turn the vessels in such quantity that a kiln could be fired every week."

Slip decoration had all but faded in the New England red earthenware industry by 1800; however the Seymour Pottery in Connecticut was one of the businesses that continued to carry its use into the nineteenth-century. Connecticut was the only state in New England that continued to use slip decoration on a regular basis well into the 1800s - and the Seymour Pottery can be credited as one of the businesses that kept that tradition alive at the turn of the nineteenth-century.

After 1825, the Seymour Pottery likely found it difficult to compete with the huge stoneware industry that was present in Connecticut and across Long Island Sound in New York City. Despite that downfall, I would like to point out that Watkins says, "…a kiln could be fired every week." That's an incredible statement - and it really shows how much production was happening at this business before 1825; although it is rather fascinating to grasp the idea that very-little from this business has survived today. There's just not a lot out there. I know of pieces in private collections and museums, but its certainly a small amount when compared to the production that Watkins describes.

Earlier this week, a jar surfaced from a home in Danbury, Connecticut that was found by a man who owns a salvage business. He was hired to clean out a home. All of the contents that were left were handled at his discretion. I do not know the specific details, but I was told the home was early. How early - or what their definition of early versus mine - is not totally understood.

Danbury is only a fifty mile distance from where this jar was originally produced in West Hartford. There's a chance this jar was in its original context. That's just an incredible potential provenance to me. Unfortunately, the lid is missing, but the jar itself is in incredible condition. Lids are what broke. They easily fell and got misplaced over the years. A missing lid doesn't really upset me, but it may others. Other than the obvious minor household wear - there are no condition issues to the jar. I am hoping to eventually find a lid that matches the jar, but in the meantime, it looks fine the way it is. I also feel this jar is a legitimate contender for an example of the red earthenware made at the Seymour Pottery before 1800 - it has that eighteenth-century feel to it. The front of jar is also decorated in a dab of slip decoration. The Seymour Pottery was known for dabbing and swiping slip onto many household wares, but products like milk pans, dishes, platters and plates usually had a more drawn out design. Many of the lidded jars were also sometimes numbered in slip in matching numbers (number on lid and number on jar) so the lid and the jar could be matched accordingly (as planned) when leaving the kiln. It is my belief the numbered pieces all date from the nineteenth-century. This jar is huge - standing over ten inches tall. I have never seen a jar of this size from the Seymour Pottery before.

It's a little off topic for this report - but I would like to share that a boldly slip decorated pitcher with a heavily ground down top (probably done because of chipping and damage done to the rim) sold for $15,000 at Sotheby's in January. It sold for the exact estimate the auction house placed on it. I was shocked when I read the results - I didn't think the pitcher had any shot at achieving such an estimate. I don't think this jar is even close to that same ballpark for value, but what I wanted to share with that auction result is the desire some collectors own for pieces made at the Seymour Pottery today.

(Possibly Late 18th Century) Red Earthenware Jar Made at the Seymour Pottery - West Hartford, Ct

Possibly Ca. 1790-1799

Recently Found in a Home in Danbury, Ct

Stands 10 1/2" Tall

Base 7" in Diameter

Small Dab of Slip Added for Decoration

For more about the Seymour Pottery - I suggest reading an article the American Folk Art Museum in New York City Published in 2002/03. Here is a link - you may have to flip forward or backwards a few pages to find the start of the article.

Please Stay Tuned…Much More to Come...