The Archaeology of the 19th & 20th Century Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, New York

I learned yesterday from Nancy Davis at the New York State Museum in Albany, New York that the Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, New York, circa 1884-1942 was excavated by archaeologists at the New York State Museum in 2006 and 2007, when a road, which ran through Fort Edward was reconfigured. A large red earthenware dump was uncovered, which included a huge collection of flower pots - these artifacts seem to indicate that these specific wasters date from the twentieth-century when the manufacture of floral wares became a primary source of production for any domestic red earthenware potter's business, which still existed in America. It is believed that this flower pot waster pile was used as landfill along the outer edge of the property when it was originally owned by the Hilfingers.

According to the New York State Museum, "The Department of Transportation construction activities along the outer edges of the former Hilfinger Pottery property provided archaeologists several opportunities to look for cultural resources associated with the previously unexplored site. They observed intact soil stratigraphy features and intact deposits in almost every construction exposure, which produced a sample of 372 artifacts, as well as a large waster deposit of red clay flower pots from the later Hilfinger brothers operation."

Here is a link that will bring you to a webpage on the New York State Museum's website that contains the archaeology report, 'Cultural Resources Data Recovery and Monitoring Report of the Fort Edward Village Site.' Click on 'Volume 8', which is the document that contains the archaeology about the Hilfinger Pottery, but it also examines stoneware artifacts from Fort Edward. The stoneware and red earthenware section can be found on pages 319-338.

The following collection of photos show the location of the Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward Village, whereas there are also images that show some of the construction and archaeology that took place in 2006-2007. These photos are not high quality since they were taken from the archaeology report and enlarged; although, the archaeology report also includes some rare photos of the Hilfinger Pottery in operation in the late-nineteenth-century, which are owned by the Fort Edward Historical Society today.

Note: Here is also a link to an article that I posted yesterday, which showed an important collection of Hilfinger Pottery that is owned today by the New York State Museum in Albany, New York.

The Former Location of the Hilfinger Pottery

The Site of the Former Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, New York

Circa 1884-1942

See Article for Information on How to Read the Archaeology Report

Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

The Site of the Former Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, New York

Circa 1884-1942

See Article for Information on How to Read the Archaeology Report

Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

Construction and Archaeology on the Former Site of the Hilfinger Pottery

Trench Dug on the Site of the Former Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

Construction Took Place 2006-2007

See Article for Information on How to Read the Archaeology Report

Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

Trench Dug on the Site of the Former Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

Construction Took Place 2006-2007

See Article for Information on How to Read the Archaeology Report

Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

Flower Pot Waster Dump Uncovered on the Site of the Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

Construction Took Place 2006-2007

See Article for Information on How to Read the Archaeology Report

Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

Flower Pot Wasters Uncovered on the Site of the Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

See Article for Information on How to Read the Archaeology Report

Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

Kiln Brick and Wasters Uncovered on the Site of the Former Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

Construction Took Place 2006-2007

See Article for Information on How to Read the Archaeology Report

Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

 Drainage Pipe Located Beneath Sidewalk on Site of Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

Construction Took Place 2006-2007

See Article for Information on How to Read the Archaeology Report

Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

 Drainage Pipe Located Beneath Sidewalk on Site of Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

Construction Took Place 2006-2007

See Article for Information on How to Read the Archaeology Report

Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

Drainage Pipe Recovered in the Waster Pile at the Site of the Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

See Article for Information on How to Read the Archaeology Report

Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

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

The Red Earthenware Produced at the Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, New York, Circa 1884-1942

"In October of 1883, the four Hilfinger Brothers; Alexander, Rupert, Frederick, and Theodore purchased the works of G.S. Guy and Company. The brothers were the sons of John Hilfinger, a German-born craftsman who had been married in 1852 at West Troy (New York) while working there, was at Bennington (Vermont) about 1856, and came to Ford Edward after again appearing at West Troy c. 1870-1872.

The family had opened a small redware pottery on Fort Edward's East Street in 1884 using clay from a marshy area in the back of the shop to make flowerpots. Here the Hilfingers worked until 1942, a half century after most other stoneware and earthenware kilns in the state had been discontinued. The original four brothers were soon reduced to three by the defection of Theodore, but they carried on.

The remaining brothers called their establishment the Fort Edward Earthenware Pottery...Redware was marked either with a black ink stamp 'HAND MADE / BY / A. HILFINGER / FORT EDWARD, N.Y.' or the impression 'FORT EDWARD, N.Y.' The "A. Hilfinger," of course, refers to Alexander, who was trained at Keene, New Hampshire, and at the Winslow Pottery in Portland, Maine, and who played a major role in the pottery throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries." (Potters and Potteries of New York State: 1650-1900, Ketchum, Jr., 1987, Syracuse University Press)

I have previously written about an object that was made at the Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, New York, which I discovered in 2015 inside a small shop in Scarborough, Maine; however, the New York State Museum in Albany, New York also owns a decent sized collection of this company's production that I thought I would show today. Note: I have indicated in the captions below that a very similar object, which is owned by the New York State Museum is comparable to the object that I found in Maine.

Nevertheless, all of the following red earthenware objects represent the type of pottery that could be encountered in today's marketplace; although, any of these objects could also be overlooked since the Hilfinger Pottery is not a well-known business outside of upstate New York. But I also feel this is a significant potter's business that should be better recognized today.

This is an important collection of pottery that is owned by the New York State Museum since it helps define the variety of forms that were produced by the Hilfinger brothers in the nineteenth and twentieth-centuries. This collection was also acquired in its entirety from a private collector in the late-twentieth-century (There are a group of (what should be) obvious pieces of pottery in these pictures that were not made by the Hilfingers since these objects were not made from red earthenware).

Note: Here is a link to a document that was written by Warren Broderick, where the Hilfinger Pottery is discussed, among other potter's businesses in the Fort Edward, New York area.

Hilfinger Pottery Owned by the New York State Museum

Collection of Red Earthenware Attributed to the Hilfinger Pottery - Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

 Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

 Collection of Red Earthenware Attributed to the Hilfinger Pottery - Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

 Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

 Red Earthenware Figure of a Dog Attributed to the Hilfinger Pottery - Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

 Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

 Large Jar or Vase Possibly Made at the Hilfinger Pottery in Fort Edward, NY

Possibly Circa 1884-1942

 Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

 Collection of Red Earthenware Attributed to the Hilfinger Pottery - Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

Note: The Pitcher is Similar to the Object that I Found in Scarborough, ME

 Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

Collection of Red Earthenware Attributed to the Hilfinger Pottery - Fort Edward, NY

Circa 1884-1942

Note: The Pitcher is Similar to the Object that I Found in Scarborough, ME

 Photo Courtesy: New York State Museum - Albany, NY

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

A Recent Discovery in an Eighteenth-Century House in Ipswich, Massachusetts

Last month, I posted an article about the type of domestic red earthenware that was likely available in the general marketplace in Ipswich, Massachusetts in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. This is a subject that I have always shown an interest with since Ipswich is not known to have really sustained any type of industry or major red earthenware business.

I had speculated in that article that the likeliest scenario would have been a merchant-based import business from wares made by the potters in Essex County, Massachusetts. I had also suggested that the potter's industry in Peabody, Massachusetts would have probably been a likely resource based on the size of that industry, as well as similar situations that occurred with other local communities, such as Salem, Massachusetts before and after the American Revolution.

Unfortunately, I have checked all sorts of records in recent years, and it does not appear that any archaeological evidence survives today to definitively prove such an import business happened between Ipswich and Peabody. Although, some longtime antique dealers have also told me stories about red earthenware that they have discovered in early Ipswich homes, which was made at the William Pecker Pottery in Merrimacport, Massachusetts, circa 1790-1820.

Nevertheless, I purchased a small basic utilitarian red earthenware pot yesterday at Todd's Farm Flea Market in Rowley, Massachusetts. Normally, I would have likely passed on this pot if it were not for the history that it retains today.

I asked the dealer, whom I purchased this pot from if it came with any type of history since it was covered in dirt and grime. He told me that he was in the process of cleaning out an eighteenth-century house in Ipswich - and, he said that the pot was found in the home's cellar. Understandably, I had to purchase this pot because of the early Ipswich connection.

Initially, I felt this pot was likely made in Peabody, as a result of the interior glaze; however, I also believe that I was able to confirm this attribution when I got home and cleaned the interior with a wet rag. The interior glaze basically matches the basic glaze on two eighteenth-century pitchers that I own, which are attributed to Peabody. A similar Peabody pitcher was recovered from a circa 1770 to 1810 archaeological context at the Narbonne House in Salem. Note: I believe the museum's pitcher (among many other objects) is proof of an import business that took place between Salem and the potter's industry in Peabody.

Ultimately, I hope this simple pot, which would normally be overlooked today is representative of so much more - I hope that the context that this pot was discovered can serve as some type of evidence for the import business that I just described, which I theorize regularly happened between Ipswich and Peabody in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries.

(Left) Two 18th Century Pitchers Attributed to Peabody, Mass.

Circa 1770-1810

(Right) Small Utilitarian Pot Attributed to Peabody, Mass.

Very Possibly 18th Century in Origin

Recently Discovered in the Basement of an 18th Century House in Ipswich, Mass.

See Article For More Information

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

Archaeology Reports for Red Earthenware and Stoneware Produced in Tennessee in the 1800s

I have found three excellent academic resources that are available online - these resources dive deep into conversation and help define the types of utilitarian red earthenware and stoneware, which was produced in Tennessee in the nineteenth-century. Collectively, it is a region that is certainly better understood today by those individuals, who are involved with historical pottery in the south versus what is generally known by others elsewhere in the country. However, the state's rich history, especially during the Civil War period mixed with the state's potter's industry has resulted in some incredible examples of pottery that survive today.

It was not too long ago that I was really surprised at the creativity and diversity that I found from the Tennessee potters when I scanned through an out-of-print book from 2011 that was published by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, 'Tennessee Potteries, Pots and Potters - 1790s to 1950 Volumes 1 & 2.' It was remarkable to learn how diverse the forms were that were produced by this important state-wide industry.

I have posted links to three archaeology reports today; although, I found the second publication to be the most interesting, which is the 1116 page report that I just cited from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

Tennessee Pottery Archaeology Reports
1) Three Stoneware Potteries in Knoxville, Tennessee

2) Tennessee Potteries, Pots, and Potters: 1790s to 1950

3) Functional Analysis of Redware from Knox County, Tennessee

Pinson Pottery Shop - Madison County, Pinson, TN

Circa 1900

For More Information:  'Tennessee Potteries, Pots and Potters - 1790s to 1950 Volumes 1 & 2'

See Page 533

Courtesy: Sybil K. Thornton

Backyard Work Area of the Pinson Pottery - Madison County, Pinson, TN

Circa 1890s or 1900s

For More Information:  'Tennessee Potteries, Pots and Potters - 1790s to 1950 Volumes 1 & 2'

See Page 532

Courtesy: Sybil K. Thornton

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

The American-Made 19th Century Red Earthenware Washboard

The nineteenth-century  Alvin Wilcox Pottery in West Bloomfield, New York is known today for its production of beautiful glaze colors, as well as red earthenware candle molds that were built into a pine frame. There are not many of these molds known to exist today; although, they are desirable and I recently wrote about an example that sold at an auction earlier this year in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

According to a report written in 1980 by George R. Hamell for Northeast Historical Archaeology, 'Earthenware and Salt-Glazed Stonewares of the Rochester-Genesee-Valley Region: An Overview,' "The 1862 probate inventory of Alvin Wilcox's (d. 1862) estate in Ontario County, New York offers the most complete contemporary description of some of the equipment used in a local red earthenware pottery, as well as its relative values and that of some of the wares produced. 

This inventory included: 1 peddler's wagon, $20.00; 1 lot of shop boards (drying boards), $5.00; 1 tile machine with fixtures, $8.00, 1 lot of round 10-inch tiles, $2.00; 20 sets of candle molds (clay tubes, their interiors glazed, set into a wooden frame), $10.00; 1 lot of candle molds (individual clay tubes), $2.00; 1 peddler's box, $1.50; 1 clay mill (pug mill), $10.00, 1 tile press, $2.00; 1 glazing mill, $1.00; 2 clay turning lathes (potter's wheels), $4.00; 2 kilns for burning tile and red earthenware, $40.00; and 1 drying frame, $3.00."

According to the Society for Historical Archaeology, "Such sets of candle molds were among the most unique articles of red earthenware manufactured by Alvin Wilcox in the 1850's. These framed molds were sold in a variety of sizes. Wilcox was also one of the few red earthenware potters anywhere, who marked their wares (but not every single piece of pottery that Wilcox produced was marked)."

However, I have also been curious to know where some of the nineteenth-century American-made red earthenware washboards that are known today were made. These boards were manufactured in a similar style that is comparable to the candle molds, which were made at the Wilcox Pottery. The scrub panel was made from red earthenware and the remainder was created with a pine frame. These washboards also came in a variety of sizes.

Interestingly, a few of the boards that I have studied are marked, 'The Common Sense Wash Board,' - whereas, a similar name, 'The Common Sense Washing Machine' can be tied to Waterloo, New York and Syracuse, New York in the 1860s.

The book, 'Documents of the State of New York Ninety-First Session - 1868,' discusses The Common Sense Washing Machine, "The Common Sense Washing Machine" was exhibited by Chas. Klingebeil of Waterloo, Seneca County, New York. The principle involved is productive of almost the precise results to be obtained by the joint use of feminine hands and wash-board."

According to the publication, 'Transactions of the New York State Agricultural Society with an Abstract of the Proceedings of the County Agricultural Societies: Volume XXVI - 1866,' "A trial of eight washing machines was had at the American Hotel, Saratoga Springs, under the supervision of the lady laundress, housekeeper and others of the establishment.

The machines tried were: North Star washing machine, S.E. Hollister, New York; Doty's washing machine, Metropolitan Washing Machine Company, New York; Five Dollar washing machine, J.L. Sash, Philadelphia; Five Dollar washing machine, S.W. Palmer & Co., Auburn; Five Dollar washing machine, John Young & Son, Amsterdam; Common Sense washing machine, E.E. Brewster & Co., Syracuse; Great American washing machine, A.J. Grant & Co., Catskill; Rice's Patent washing machine, Martin Hewitt, Milton Center.

It was decided by those who examined the work that all did exceedingly well, so nearly alike that no opinion of superiority could be given."

I am interested to learn whether the 'Common Sense Washing Machine' can be tied to the 'Common Sense Wash Board.' And, whether the red earthenware washboards that are known today with this mark can be tied to a potter in western New York, especially since there appears to be some production similarities between these red earthenware washboards and the red earthenware candle molds, which are known from the Alvin Wilcox Pottery today.

19th Century American-Made Red Earthenware 'Common Sense Wash Board'

The Scrub Panel is Made from Red Earthenware

The Frame is Made from Pine

Stands 23" Tall

See Article For More Information

Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston

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

18th Century Red Earthenware Remains Recovered from Harvard Yard at Harvard University

According to the Harvard Gazette, "Studying the archaeology of Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts is a collaborative project of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. Four buildings made up the seventeenth-century Harvard campus. Two of these, the Old College and the Indian College, were near the present archaeological excavation. 

The features and artifacts excavated confirm the presence of a refuse zone (trash area), likely from the Old College building of 1638, the first college building in America, and long gone from the Yard. Among the finds are seventeenth-century red earthenware roof tiles, diamond pane window glass, many handmade bricks and clay tobacco pipes."

Although, the ongoing archaeology project has also revealed kiln bricks and kiln furniture from what appears to be a local eighteenth-century Cambridge red earthenware potter. A variety of red earthenware sherds have also been recovered, which range from basic black and brown glazes to objects creatively decorated with slip-decoration.

I also want to note that similar seventeenth-century red earthenware roof tiles have been recovered in Charlestown and Salem, Massachusetts - and, the manufacture of those tiles is debatable whether the production was originally related. Red earthenware roof tiles have also been recovered from a seventeenth-century privy at the Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown.

The tiles at Harvard Yard have been found in a similar archaeological context, as were the tiles in Charlestown and Salem, which continues to debate my theory that this type of production is somehow related since this was a limited style of local red earthenware production in the 1600s. It is not unthinkable to believe that these type of roof tiles could have been shipped for construction to nearby locations.

Here is also a link to an article that I wrote in May 2013 that shows a late seventeenth or early eighteenth-century red earthenware roof tile, which was uncovered during an archaeology dig at the Clough House in Boston.

This link will bring you to the Peabody Museum's website at Harvard University - you can conduct a quick search on this website for the artifacts recovered at Harvard Yard.

Note:  Here is also a link to the Harvard Gazette article (referenced above) that shows a number of pictures from the archaeology dig at Harvard Yard in 2016.

18th Century Slip-Decorated Sherds

(Left) 18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherd

Recovered at Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology - Harvard University

18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds

Recovered at Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology - Harvard University

18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherd

Recovered at Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology - Harvard University

18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Handle Sherd

Recovered at Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology - Harvard University

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

A Pioneering Potter: Samuel Marshall of Portsmouth, New Hampshire

My latest article has been published in the April 2017 edition of the New England Antiques Journal - the article illustrates the life's work of Samuel Marshall (no record of birth, d. 1749), who was an eighteenth-century red earthenware potter in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, circa 1729-1749.

Marshall's story is an important legacy to tell today since he was a landmark coastal New Hampshire potter, who challenged the local market for imported ceramics in the Portsmouth area with his domestic red earthenware production. But he also had strong ties to the Charlestown, Massachusetts potter's industry, where he is documented as having purchased wholesale orders of red earthenware from the Parker Pottery before he died in 1749.

Presumably, some of the pottery that Marshall purchased was sold locally; although, I challenged this idea in the New England Antiques Journal article since Charlestown red earthenware has been found at various colonial military forts and taverns in Maine and Canada. I suspect that Marshall may have been responsible for the distribution for some of these recovered artifacts. However, here is also a link to a previous website article, which proves that a merchant based in Maine purchased a single wholesale order of pottery on April 15, 1747 from the Parker Pottery for distribution in Maine's Casco Bay region. But this is the only documentation that is known today that ties the Parker Pottery to a merchant in Maine - and, it certainly does not explain why Charlestown Pottery has been recovered in numerous circa 1740-1770 archaeological contexts in southern Maine, coastal Maine, possibly New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

Nevertheless, these are some of the additional pictures that I took when I was researching and writing the article - I believe that all of these objects are somehow related to Marshall. I find the most interesting object to be a small slip-decorated dish, which was recovered within a circa 1725-1750 archaeological context on Deer Street in Portsmouth. The form of this dish closely matches a waster that was recovered less than one mile away by archaeologists at the site of the Marshall Pottery in the 1970s.

Note: Here is a direct link to my full article, which can be found on pages 42-44 in this month's edition of the New England Antiques Journal.

Artifacts Collected at the Marshall Pottery in Portsmouth, NH

(Top Left) 18^th Century Red Earthenware Mug Likely Made in Charlestown, Mass.

Found in a Shed in the 1970s Filled with Dried Paint Brushes
The Shed was a Few Hundred Yards from the Location of Samuel Marshall's Pottery

Circa 1730-1760
See NEAJ Article for More Information

Courtesy: Hollis Brodrick 

(Artifacts) Kiln Furniture and Wasters Recovered at the Site of  the Samuel Marshall Pottery

Artifacts, Circa 1736-1749

Courtesy: Strawbery Banke Archaeology Department - Portsmouth, NH

(Top Right) Stack of Red Earthenware Cup/Mug Wasters

Circa 1736-1749

(Bottom Left) Red Earthenware Dish Waster

Dish is a Near Perfect Match to a Slip-Decorated Dish Found on Deer Street in Portsmouth, NH

Circa 1736-1749

See Today's Article and Picture Below for More Information

(Bottom Right) Kiln Furniture from the Marshall Pottery

Circa 1736-1749

Courtesy: Strawbery Banke Archaeology Department - Portsmouth, NH

Slip-Decorated Dish Recovered on Deer Street in Portsmouth, NH

Small 18th Century Slip Decorated Dish Recovered on Deer Street in Porsmouth, NH

Uncovered in a Circa 1725-1750 Archaeological Context

Closely Matches a Dish Waster Recovered at the Site of the Samuel Marshall Pottery

Courtesy: Strawbery Banke Archaeology Department - Portsmouth, NH

Samuel Marshall Cited in John Parker's Charlestown, Mass Potter's Daybook

Page Taken from John Parker’s 18^th Century Potter’s Daybook from Charlestown, Mass.

Shows Samuel Marshall Purchased “Earthenware” from Parker in 1748

Courtesy: Baker Library, Harvard University

Charlestown, Mass. Chamber Pot Sherd Recovered in Berwick, Maine

Charlestown, Mass. Slip-Decorated Chamber Pot Sherd Recovered at a Tavern in Berwick, Maine

Uncovered in a Mid-18^th Century Archaeological Context

Likely Imported Into Portsmouth, NH in the 1740s

Courtesy: Neil De Paoli

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