The Continued Study of American-Made Red Earthenware Chamber Pots: The Pots of Portsmouth, New Hampshire

In keeping with yesterday's report - I would like to continue the discussion of American-made red earthenware chamber pots today. Yesterday, I briefly covered eighteenth-century pots that were uncovered in archaeological contexts in Charlestown, Salem and Newburyport, Massachusetts - today, I would like to examine a number of chamber pots that were discovered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Most of these pots likely date from the eighteenth-century - some of these pots have been shown in previous posts over the past two years; however, its always fun to see these wonderful objects surface a second time around!

From the archaeology I have studied in Portsmouth, it is apparent to me that the city was a destination port for merchants from all-over the the world to deposit their exports (goods and whatever else they brought) by way of the Atlantic Ocean and the Piscataqua River. The river led ships directly into Portsmouth's docks and waterfront, where their supplies could be distributed and even auctioned-off to the highest bidder.

For example, this became probable to me when I was studying the John Parker Daybook at Harvard University's Baker Library a few summers ago. This book accounts for a lot of Parker's potter's work in Charlestown during the late 1740's and into the 1750's. The book clearly states that Portsmouth's important eighteenth-century red earthenware potter, Samuel Marshall (d. 1749) contracted with Parker for multiple orders of Charlestown-made red earthenware that were delivered to Portsmouth (I assume by boat). Based on this information, I assume Charlestown-made pottery was retailed in Portsmouth. I have been unable to substantiate the claim, but I have read reports that indicate Marshall and his wife sold Charlestown-made red earthenware in Portsmouth, while they also produced their own pottery for export and local distribution. There are even reports which indicate "Charlestown Ware" may have been exported as far south as South Carolina before the American Revolution.

The Baker Library - Harvard University - Cambridge, Ma

John Parker's Potter's Daybook - Charlestown, Ma

Ca. Late 1740's and 1750's 

Accounts For A Lot of Parker's Red Earthenware Sales and Daily Potter's Work

Photo Courtesy: The Baker Library - Harvard University - Cambridge, Ma

Chamber Pots Uncovered at the Site of the Samuel Marshall Pottery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire Made Before 1750

Below are a few chamber pots that were uncovered at the site of Samuel Marshall's pottery (he owned and operated two separate locations near the waterfront that ran consecutive to each other) in Portsmouth before his death in 1749. Despite the fact that John Parker's Potter's Daybook clearly reveals Marshall purchased wholesale orders of Charlestown-made red earthenware - it is believed that all of the following pots were made at Marshall's business.

Site of Samuel Marshall's Pottery on the Grounds of Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH

Marshall Made Red Earthenware at this Location Up Until His Death in 1749

 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Sherd

Uncovered at the Samuel Marshall Pottery in Portsmouth, NH

Ca. Made Before 1749

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

 18th Century Black Glazed Red Earthenware Chamber Pot

Uncovered at the Samuel Marshall Pottery in Portsmouth, NH

Ca. Made Before 1749

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

18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Sherd

Uncovered at the Samuel Marshall Pottery in Portsmouth, NH

Ca. Made Before 1749

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

According to the book, Women and Property in Early 19th Century Portsmouth, New Hampshire, "In the early nineteenth-century, the Deer Street neighborhood of Portsmouth, New Hampshire enjoyed considerable social stability. The archaeological projects uncovered both sites and features closely associated with Portsmouth women and dated between 1820 and 1840...Deer Street was the site of several phases of archaeological work conducted between 1981 and 1986. The work identified the remains of more than one hundred features, recovering large quantities of artifactual data from a well-defined series of house lots. The interpretation of the features within a historical framework provides an avenue for the detailed analysis of the neighborhood during the early years of the nineteenth-century."

Chamber Pots Uncovered at the Deer Street Archaeology Site in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Interestingly, yesterday I had written that it appeared amidst all of the changes brought on by the dawn of the nineteenth-century and the potter's industry in New England - that the production of chamber pots appeared to have disappeared as a primary form produced as the potter's movement evolved. From all of my research, the vast majority of chamber pots I know of today were all found within archaeological contexts dating from the eighteen-century; however, the findings in Portsmouth may have broken that mold. All of the following chamber pots were uncovered in an early nineteenth-century context; although, that doesn't mean they were manufactured in that same context. They may have been produced in the eighteenth-century and rather taken care of over the years by the owner. It is in my opinion that most of these pots (if not all) were not products made in Portsmouth, but instead - they were imported from potters in Massachusetts, possibly Maine and elsewhere in New Hampshire (i.e. Exeter, New Hampshire, etc.). 

I presume that almost all of these pots (if not all) were made in the latter years of the eighteenth-century; however, I have no definitive proof of that. I have very-little doubt that the slip decorated pots shown below were made in the 1700's.

Like I wrote yesterday, chamber pots are not really a product that I think of when it comes to nineteenth-century red earthenware potters in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It would be really surprising to me if all of these pots are from the nineteenth-century. If that were the case, many questions would surface in my mind, but it would make sense considering indoor plumbing did not become a commodity in the American home until decades later. Simply put, there are just not many known nineteenth-century chamber pots made in New England that I know of today; although, there are plenty of broken eighteenth-century examples kept in a number of museums and archaeology departments.

The early nineteenth-century chamber pot is a subject I have a lot of questions about in regards to New England potters; Was the form regularly produced (if-not mass-produced) and if so, why has the majority of that production line been lost today? I find it to be a very interesting subject.

Similar to yesterday's report - there are examples of boldly colored slip decorated pots, basic glazed pots and everything in-between. The map shown below indicates where Deer Street was located in relationship to the original Portsmouth waterfront where imports were brought into the city.

Map of Portsmouth, NH with Deer Street Shown with the Red Marker

Notice How Close Deer Street is to Portsmouth NH's Original Waterfront

The Original Waterfront is Where All of the Imports Would Have Arrived By Ship

Photo Courtesy: Google Maps

 18th/19th Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Portsmouth, NH

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

Ca. 1780-1840

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

  18th/19th Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Portsmouth, NH

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

Ca. 1780-1840

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

  18th/19th Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Portsmouth, NH

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

Ca. 1780-1840

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

  18th/19th Century Black Glazed Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Portsmouth, NH

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

Ca. 1780-1840

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

  18th/19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Portsmouth, NH

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

Ca. 1780-1840

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

  18th/19th Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Portsmouth, NH

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

Ca. 1780-1840

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

  18th/19th Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Portsmouth, NH

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

Ca. 1780-1840

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

  18th/19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Portsmouth, NH

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

Ca. 1780-1840

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

  18th/19th Slip Decorated Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Portsmouth, NH

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

Ca. 1780-1840

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

 18th/19th Century Black Glazed Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Portsmouth, NH

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

Ca. 1780-1840

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

For the sake of this continued discussion, here are some of the imported earthenware chamber pots that were also found at the Deer Street site in a similar archaeological context as the red earthenware chamber pots shown directly above. These imported European chamber pots likely created a competitive environment for the merchants and potters who were attempting to sell New England-made pots in the Portsmouth marketplace.

 Likely 18th Century Staffordshire, England Earthenware Chamber Pot

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

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

 Likely 18th Century Staffordshire, England Earthenware Chamber Pot

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

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

 Likely 18th Century Staffordshire, England Earthenware Chamber Pot

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

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

Likely 18th/19th Century English Earthenware Chamber Pot

Excavated from the Deer Street Archeology Site

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

18th Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered by Construction Crews in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

This pot will conclude the discussion of chamber pots for today - the pot was first introduced to me by scholar and Portsmouth, New Hampshire antiques dealer, Hollis Broderick three summers ago. It was on display at the Portsmouth Discovery Center in the city's downtown area in the summer of 2012. I have no concrete proof of where it was made or my reasoning beyond a gut feeling, but I do feel this pot was made in Portsmouth around the mid-eighteenth-century by possibly the potter, Samuel Marshall in the 1740's or maybe another unidentified potter. I have not seen this hand-applied slip technique in any of the other eighteenth-century potter's sites that I have studied in New England. The manner of the decoration seems unique to a specific potter or a specific decorator. The pot is quite a remarkable sherd! Unfortunately, since it was discovered by construction crews in downtown Portsmouth there is no real defined archaeological context or provenience other than being found well-underground in a well-defined seventeenth and eighteenth-century city that flourished in Colonial America. Its a remarkable example of Colonial New England craftsmanship!

The Portsmouth, NH Discovery Center

Photo Courtesy: David J. Murray - Portsmouth, NH

18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Uncovered in Portsmouth, NH

I Feel It Dates Ca. 1730-1760

Possibly Made by a Local Potter

Photo Courtesy: The Portsmouth, NH Discovery Center - Portsmouth, NH

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

A Newly Acquired Red Earthenware Pot with Possible Ties to New England Potters in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Centuries

Chamber pots served an obvious use before the technological advancements of the mid-nineteenth-century. Most people would say it is, "gross" by today's standards; however, it was a part of everyday society prior to indoor plumbing becoming a common necessity in the average American household. There are very-few survivors of this red earthenware form today - especially examples that were made in New England. Most chamber pots were thrown out over the years. The form was not usually (or always ) treated with extra care like formal ceramics intended for the dining room - and it was not usually a product that was cherished either; rather, a chamber pot was an everyday utilitarian need for the common household.

The form dates back thousands of years to ancient times with some of the most prolific decorated examples having been manufactured during the seventeenth-century in England.

Before the Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, the potters that worked in the Charlestown, Massachusetts industry appear to have given a special emphasis towards the manufacture of the form based on what I have seen from the archaeology undertaken during the Big Dig in Charlestown in the 1980's. I have personally seen and handled a number of examples that were excavated from privies (trash pits) at the Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown, which was originally built as the Great House for Governor John Winthrop in the seventeenth-century. Chamber pot sherds are also represented at all the potter's sites that were excavated elsewhere in Charlestown in both seventeenth and eighteenth-century archaeological contexts. Glazes range from vibrant slip decorated pots to basic black glazed pots with a number of intertwined glazes mixed in between. It's ultimately a form that was made by potters from Virginia all along the eastern seaboard straight into the heart of New England throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth-centuries. Interestingly, the manufacture of the form appears to have faded amidst the main interests of New England red earthenware potters in the nineteenth-century. Overall, the focus in the 1800's mostly turned to utilitarian needs that fit into the kitchen and cellar like food preparation and food storage.

Chamber Pots Uncovered in Charlestown, Mass. and Manufactured Prior to June 17, 1775

As indicated above, all of the following pots were  uncovered from privies in a pre-1775 archaeological context at the Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The black glazed example is from the early eighteenth-century, while the slip decorated pots date more towards the middle of the eighteenth-century and later closer to the American Revolution.

The Battle of Bunker Hill by Artist, Winthrop Chandler

Completed Ca. 1776-1777

Photo Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts Boston - Boston, Ma

Excavation of the City Square Neighborhood and Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown, Ma

Photo was Taken in the 1980's when the Big Dig Archaeology Took Place

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma

 18th Century Charlestown, Mass. Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot

Ca. 1755-1775

Excavated from a Privy at the Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown, Ma

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma

 18th Century Charlestown, Mass. Black Glazed Red Earthenware Chamber Pot

Ca. 1710-1730

Excavated from a Privy at the Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown, Ma

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma

18th Century Charlestown, Mass. Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot

Together with a Similar Decorated Sherd from a Crock

Ca. 1730-1755

Excavated from a Privy at the Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown, Ma

Photo Courtesy: Boston Archaeology Dept. - West Roxbury, Ma

Chamber Pots Uncovered at the Bayley Pottery Site in Newburyport, Mass. Made Prior to 1799

These pots were all collected by author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) in 1934 when an underpass for Route 1 was paved directly through the center of Newburyport, Massachusetts. In the process, the entire eighteenth-century pottery of Daniel Bayley (Ca. 1766-1799) was demolished. Fortunately, Watkins salvaged a large amount of sherds and kiln furniture that now reside in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Below are examples of chamber pots from this business - and like the sherds shown above found in Charlestown - there are examples of both slip decoration and basic glazes.

 This is Where the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Used to Operate in Newburyport, Ma
Bayley Pottery Company: Ca. 1766-1799

This is Where the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Used to Operate in Newburyport, Ma

Seen is the Route 1 Underpass that was Dug in 1934 Removing the Company's Remains

 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Made in Newburyport, Mass.
Produced at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company
Ca. 1766-1799
Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins in 1934
Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 18th Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Made in Newburyport, Mass.
Produced at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company
Ca. 1766-1799
Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins in 1934
Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

  18th Century Black Glazed Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Made in Newburyport, Mass.
Produced at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company
Ca. 1766-1799
Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins in 1934
Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 18th Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Made in Newburyport, Mass.
Produced at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company
Ca. 1766-1799
Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins in 1934
Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

18th Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Made in Newburyport, Mass.
Produced at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company
Ca. 1766-1799
Collected by Lura Woodside Watkins in 1934
Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

Chamber Pots Uncovered at the Narbonne House in Salem, Mass. Made Before 1800

All of the following chamber pots were uncovered in an eighteenth-century archaeological context at the Narbonne House in Salem, Massachusetts. When the Narbonne House was built in the seventeenth-century, it was intended as a middle-class occupancy and it remained this way well into the twentieth-century before it was purchased by the National Parks Services and turned into a museum. All of these pots were recovered from privies in the backyard. The house was built directly in front of Salem's waterfront - so it is feasible that these pots were imported from places like Charlestown and Newburyport; although, it is also possible these pots were manufactured nearby, as well.

Narbonne House - Salem, Ma

Late 18th Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Made in Massachusetts

Ca. 1770-1790

Uncovered from a Privy at the Narbonne House in Salem, Ma

Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services - Narbonne House - Salem, Ma

 Late 18th Century Slip Decorated Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Made in Massachusetts

Ca. 1770-1790

Uncovered from a Privy at the Narbonne House in Salem, Ma

Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services - Narbonne House - Salem, Ma

Late 18th Century Black Glazed Century Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Made in Massachusetts

Ca. 1770-1790

Uncovered from a Privy at the Narbonne House in Salem, Ma

Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services - Narbonne House - Salem, Ma

Chamber Pots Donated to the Smithsonian that were Dug in a Backyard in Charlestown, Mass.

These chamber pots were donated to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. by a private donor. They were dug by an amateur digger in the backyard (privy) of an early home in Charlestown. Neither have a strong context or provenience; however, the form's glaze on the right reminds me of a some glazes applied about fifteen-miles north in South Danvers (today known as Peabody), Massachusetts. Both are very likely eighteenth-century examples.

Pair of Red Earthenware Chamber Pots Uncovered in a Backyard in Charlestown, Ma

Both Likely Made in the 18th Century

The Glaze on the Pot Seen on the Right Reminds Me of some Glazes Applied in Peabody, Ma

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.

When I visited the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. a little over a year ago - I was fortunate to have been given a behind the scenes hands-on look at all of the sherds and whole forms that author, Lura Woodside Watkins had collected and used in her book, "Early New England Potters and Their Wares." The book was published in 1950 and most of the material used in the book was donated to the museum in the early 1980's. I was surprised when I saw the collection considering she had donated more material to the Smithsonian than what was only pictured in the back of her book. Her collection included a handled bowl that appeared to me to be a small child's chamber pot covered in green dots (possibly caused from copper in the clay) that she attributed to the (James) Chase Pottery in Merrimacport, Massachusetts sometime after 1820 (James Chase Pottery - Ca. 1820-1862).

According to the museum's records, Watkins found the pot in a house in Merrimacport with an early family history. The pot has since been published in an article I wrote for the October 2014 edition of the New England Antiques Journal.

19th Century Red Earthenware Handled Bowl (Possibly a Child's Chamber Pot)

This is Part of Lura Woodside Watkins' Collection of Pottery in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Watkins Attributed it to the James Chase Pottery in Merrimacport, Ma

Ca. 1820-1840

Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

View of the Handle
Photo Courtesy: The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

Last weekend, I acquired this small handled bowl from an important (prominent) private New England collection (and a friend), which I believe was possibly used as a child's chamber pot in the nineteenth-century. I consider this pot to be a product made in Massachusetts that is very similar in form and glaze to the pot Watkins attributes above to the Chase Pottery in Merrimacport, Massachusetts. Another indicator and possible common characteristic is that both of the pot handles are also similar. If the following pot is not related to Merrimacport then I suppose it may be an eighteenth-century product made elsewhere in Massachusetts considering the form does correspond with all of the eighteenth-century chamber pots in this report. Either way, I consider this pot to be a rare survivor today that has filled an important gap in my collection (an 18th/19th century New England-made chamber pot).

18th/19th Century Red Earthenware Handled Bowl (Possibly a Child's Chamber Pot)
The Pot Seems Very Similar to the Bowl Shown Above Attributed to Merrimacport, Ma
Stands 3 7/8" Tall

 View of the Handle
Similar to the Handle Shown Above Attributed to Merrimacport, Ma

 View of the Interior
Measures 5 7/8" Wide (Without the Handle)

View of the Base

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

A Successful Afternoon Picking Central New Hampshire With My FatherToday

It's going to be a real quick report tonight, but I do promise that I have some fun write-ups planned for later this week.

This afternoon, I went out picking with my father in central New Hampshire to a few places that I have found success at in the past two or three years. Pictured below is what I discovered today.

This first piece was sold to me as a "redware toothpick holder," while I am not positive of that specific purpose - I was told it was found locally. These are the characteristics that I noticed before I ultimately purchased this small piece:

1) It is hand-thrown.
2) It is in the form of a barrel, which was a form used by nineteenth-century potters in New Hampshire.
3) It is black glazed, which was a glaze commonly used by potters in New Hampshire.
4) Each barrel rib is highlighted in gold, which was a trait used by nineteenth-century potters in the central part of New Hampshire.
5) The color of the clay looks correct for products made in New Hampshire.

 19th Century Black Glazed Red Earthenware Barrel-Formed Holder with Gold on Each Rib

Likely Made in New Hampshire

Ca. 1860's to 1880's

Found Today in Central New Hampshire

Stands 2" Tall

 View of the Base

View of the Interior 

This Holder was Hand-Thrown

If an attribution were to be developed - I think a comparison of the following red earthenware mug that sold through Norman Heckler Auctions in 2012 in Woodstock Valley, Connecticut should be considered. I personally know of about a dozen or so of these types of barrel-formed mugs in private New England collections today.

What I really notice on these mugs is that each is decorated with gold on each barrel-rib much like the small "toothpick holder" seen above. According to the auction house, "This is a rare political item from the Tilden and Hendrick's presidential race of 1876 " (see the inscription on the mug below).

According to Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) most of these barrel-formed political mugs were made at the Clark Pottery in Concord, New Hampshire in the 1870's.

19th Century Red Earthenware Barrel-Formed Political Mug with Gold on Each Rib

Mug was Made for the Tilden and Hendrick's Political Race of 1876

Lura Woodside Watkins Attributes These Political Mugs to the Clark Pottery in Concord, NH

Photo Courtesy: Norman Heckler Auctions - Woodstock Valley, Ct

I also discovered this wonderfully made red earthenware inkwell with a fluid-type glaze. Based on the fluid glaze (see bottom of inkwell below) I feel this piece may also be related to the Clark Pottery in New Hampshire. When I use the term "fluid glaze" I mean it is a thick glaze; this type of glaze is seldomly seen in New Hampshire. However, I often see it used on products in museums that were manufactured (and attributed to) at the Clark family pottery in the Concord and Lyndeboro, New Hampshire areas. 

There were multiple generations of Clark family members in New Hampshire that began in the late eighteenth-century - and the family's work continued up through the late-nineteenth-century. For more information on this subject and family, see Lura Woodside Watkins' book, "Early New England Potters and Their Wares" (pp. 120-129).

Red earthenware inkwells made by utilitarian New England potters are a rare commodity today - and a skilled form with such an attractive glaze like that seen below is highly sought after. I think its a wonderful find!

 19th Century Hand-Made Red Earthenware Inkwell 

Likely Made in New Hampshire

Ca. 1840-1880

Found Today in Central New Hampshire

Stands 1 3/4" Tall

 Another View of the Attractive Glaze

View of the Base

Measure 2 1/4" Wide

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

A Possible Example of Slip Decorated Canadian-Made Red Earthenware Found in a House in Morrisonville, New York

According to the book, Early Canadian Pottery (published in 1971) by Donald Webster, "Canadian Pottery is a relatively recent focus for the attention of collectors, and only very recently has it received any real attention. Part of the reason for this may be that ceramics collectors, until lately, were largely oriented solely toward object aesthetics, with little appreciation of the historical, technological, or cultural manifestations of their subject...No early studies exist on Canadian ceramics, and this lack of previous specialized work and publication makes some core problems blatantly apparent. Above all, how do we determine just what pottery is Canadian in origin and what is not? And then, once we know or at least suspect that a piece is in fact Canadian, the question rises of making attributions to a specific area or a specific pottery or factory."

In keeping with the last report that targeted Canadian-made red earthenware products that migrated into America in the nineteenth-century and likewise, American-made red earthenware products that drifted into Canada in those years - I am going to discuss an interesting piece that I discovered at the Boston Antiques and Design Show and Sale in Wilmington, Massachusetts last weekend.

I drove to the Wilmington show from my house in Newburyport, Massachusetts (about a twenty-five minute drive) last Sunday with no intentions of buying anything. It wasn't really a consideration. My only motive was to walk around the event to see if I could learn anything. There were dozens of dealers setup in room settings - and this sale was unlike many of the other shows I have written about in the past year. Most of the shows I go to usually showcase dealers who specialize in Americana. Instead, this show was a mixture of dealers from a variety specialties in the antiques field. The show was geared for interior designers as much as it was for antique collectors. Its my estimate that for every Americana dealer there were ten other dealers who specialized in another field like fine art, modern art, imported ceramics, foreign antiques, vintage posters and more.

Poster for the Boston Antiques & Design Show & Sale in Wilmington, Ma

Shriner's Auditorium - Wilmington, Ma

Shriner's Auditorium Box Office in Wilmington, Ma

Shriner's Auditorium Entrance in Wilmington, Ma

Entrance to the Boston Antiques & Design Show & Sale

Boston Antiques & Design Show & Sale

Boston Antiques & Design Show & Sale

Boston Antiques & Design Show & Sale

Boston Antiques & Design Show & Sale

Sample of the Pottery at the Boston Antiques & Design Show & Sale

Like I said, I really had little expectations of buying anything at this show; however, in the booth of Partridge Hollow Antiques from Milton, Vermont, I discovered this little hand-thrown red earthenware vase for only five-bucks. The dealer told me he found it last fall at an estate sale in Morrisonville, New York, which is a very small town (population of under 1,600 residents) just west of Plattsburg, New York and Lake Champlain. Interestingly, Morrisonville is roughly sixty-five miles south of Montreal and less than thirty miles south of the Quebec border in Canada.

I had shown this small vase to Cape Cod antiques dealer, Brian Cullity while at the show and he said the decoration on the jar seemed to have a French influence. Although, he said the form did not appear to correspond with any French styles he knew of. I hadn't really throught about where this little vase could have been made when I purchased it, but soon after speaking with Brian it clicked, "I bet this could be a Canadian-made example of red earthenware."

If you look at the slip decoration on this vase, you will notice it is white, rather, than the common yellow colored slip that is typically seen on American-made products from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. From my observations and from what I have read, there appears to have been a lot of white colored slip used in places like Ontario, Nova Scotia, Quebec and Prince Edward Island in Canada in the nineteenth-century. It was used for interior glazes and for decoration on the exterior of pots, crocks and many other utilitarian forms. Based on this information, its possible that this vase is from a French-inspired or French-influenced potter, who worked somewhere in Canada, which would make sense considering the huge French influence that was established in places like Quebec.

I think this is a great little piece that was very-possibly made somewhere in Canada towards the latter-half of the nineteenth-century (after 1870) when forms like vases became fashionable. I also like the cupped and glazed base, which is also a rare pair of characteristics I have seen done in New England before. If you continue to look carefully at the photos below, you will see there are parts of the base that were over-fired in the kiln. I also enjoy the use of slip mixed with manganese for the exterior decoration; this kind of combination is rare today. Overall, this vase has no real condition issues except for a small flea bite along the rim. I really couldn't do any harm with a price tag of only, five-dollars.

Possibly Late 19th Century Small Red Earthenware Vase Made in Canada

Possibly Made Ca. 1870 to Early 20th Century

Found in a House in Morrisonville, NY in Fall of 2014

Stands 2 5/8" Tall

The Glaze is Very Attractive and Unusual

Three Colored Glazed Forms are Rare Today from Any Potter's Business

View of the Base
It Appears Around the Base May Have Been Over-Fired

Another View of the Base

View of the Interior Taken with a Camera Flash

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