An Incredible Circa 1764 Red Earthenware Dish that is Attributed to the Joseph Wilson Pottery in Dedham, Massachusetts

Joseph Wilson, an eighteenth century Essex County, Massachusetts trained potter, who traveled to Dedham, Massachusetts to establish a potter's business and later Providence, Rhode Island advertised on June 22, 1767 in the 'Newport (Rhode Island) Mercury,' "Joseph Wilson - potter at the North End of Providence Informs the Public that he can Supply them with Earthen Ware at a Cheap Rate, made in the best Manner and Glazed in the Same Way as Practised in Philadelphia - All Persons in this Town may be regularly supplied by Means of the Boats which constantly pass between this Place and Providence."

I have never been able to find any red earthenware or archaeological evidence that is properly attributed to Joseph Wilson's production in Providence, but I did see an exceptional eighteenth century slip-decorated red earthenware dish, which is attributed to his production in Dedham last week, while visiting the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. This important object is illustrated in figure 26 in Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins' book, 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares.' This object may have been a presentation piece since it is dated in slip '1764.'

The decoration on this pan appears to demonstrate exactly what Wilson had advertised in 1767, when he informed the public that he was producing red earthenware similar to what was manufactured in Philadelphia during the same period.

I mentioned the idea that the use of slip in Essex County, Massachusetts is a subject that deserves more attention today in an article that I wrote for the current November 2017 edition of the New England Antiques Journal called, 'Digging Into the Peabody Potteries: Archaeology and Red Earthenware,' where this pan is covered in three colors of slip from Wilson's reported production in Dedham. However, I suspect that Wilson must have been originally introduced to slip while he learned the potter's craft in Peabody (formerly South Danvers), Massachusetts.

According to Watkins, "The Wilsons were a prominent family of artisans. The first two (full-time) potting Wilsons were sons of Robert, a farmer (and potter). They were Robert, known as Robert, Jr., who remained in South Danvers and Joseph, who went to Dedham and thence to Providence, Rhode Island. "

The Wilson Pottery in Peabody passed through a few generations of family ownership before the pottery likely closed in 1809 when the last known full-time family potter died; this is also another potter's business from Peabody that is hardly recognized today even though they produced red earthenware on a regular basis for over 40 years. But unlike some of the other potter's businesses in Peabody, the Wilson Pottery was mostly an eighteenth century business.

Nonetheless, I have not been able to find any evidence to say how much success Joseph Wilson's pottery found in Providence; whereas, I have seen other potter's businesses advertise their wares in a similar manner only to be out of business a few years later. For example, an imitation style of Whieldon ware was advertised in Boston in 1769; however, this same business was advertised a few years later liquidating its assets.

Historically, Rhode Island was a state that was dominated by domestic red earthenware exports from places, such as Connecticut and southeastern Massachusetts in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It has been reported that the clay beds in Rhode Island were not the same quality for red earthenware production when compared to what was found elsewhere in New England. I cannot currently say whether Joseph Wilson was a successful potter in Rhode Island, but he may have also been a journeyman potter, who relocated, yet, again.

Wilson Family Potters who Worked at the Wilson Pottery in Peabody, Mass.

Robert Wilson I (South Danvers, Mass) – d. 1782

Joseph Wilson (Danvers & Dedham, Mass and Providence, RI) – b. 1735

Robert Wilson Jr. – son of Robert I (South Danvers, Mass) -1745-1797

Isaac Wilson III (Jr.) – (South Danvers, Mass) – 1758-1809

Job Wilson – son of Robert Jr. (South Danvers, Mass) – 1762-1791

Robert Wilson III – son of Robert Jr (South Danvers, Mass) – 1776-1803
John Wilson – son of Robert I (South Danvers, Mass) – b. 1791

Note: I will post another article later today, which demonstrates how another Massachusetts potter appears to have also imitated red earthenware made in Philadelphia in the eighteenth century.

18th Century Dish Attributed to Dedham, Mass.

18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

Attributed to Joseph Wilson's Pottery in Dedham, Mass.
Possibly a Presentation Piece

Wilson was an Essex County, Mass. Trained Potter

Circa 1764

Measures 11 3/8" in Diameter

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

View of the Decoration in the Center of the Dish as well as the Date '1764'

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

View of the Back

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

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

Digging Into the Peabody Potteries: Archaeology and Red Earthenware

I want to pass along tonight that my latest published feature story in the November 2017 edition of the New England Antiques Journal is now available; the article is titled, 'Digging Into the Peabody Potteries: Archaeology and Red Earthenware." 

My niece, Alexis is actually quite excited over this article since she makes her print debut, where I wrote about a large group of kiln waste that we discovered, which was related to an eighteenth and nineteenth century potter's business in Peabody, Massachusetts. But the article also discusses the significance of the industry in Peabody and its impact on potter's businesses throughout New England and New York State. I also theorize how this important industry would have appeared had the eighteenth century industry in Charlestown, Massachusetts not been destroyed at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.

My favorite part of the article is finally publishing a style of pottery that was produced in the Peabody-area, which seems to have been inspired from French production that took place in France in the late-eighteenth century. I first discovered this style of production when I reviewed a collection of red earthenware in storage that is owned today by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts; whereas, this collection of pottery also retains a local history of ownership in Salem from the nineteenth century. To my knowledge, this type of production has never been acknowledged or published before.

For those, who do not have access to the magazine, I will post a .PDF link to my website sometime next month.

Note: The cover of this magazine features a wonderful locally-made French-inspired eighteenth century red earthenware dish that was uncovered by archaeologists at the site of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

November 2017 Edition of the New England Antiques Journal

 My Niece, Alexis Showing the Article

She Makes Her Print Debut in this Feature Story

See Article for More Information

My Niece, Alexis Showing the Article

She Makes Her Print Debut in this Feature Story

See Article for More Information

My Niece, Alexis Showing the Cover of the November 2017 NEAJ

See Article for More Information

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

19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds Recovered in DeRuyter, New York that are Owned by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

I was surprised last week while studying the archaeology from various American red earthenware and stoneware potter's sites at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. to learn that Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins' (1897-1982) (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) research extended beyond only New England potters. There was a collection of slip-decorated sherds, which Watkins had gifted to the museum in 1951 from the site of the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, New York, which is located in Western New York, 35 miles southeast of Syracuse, New York.

The information on file at the Smithsonian said that the Elijah Cornell Pottery was established in 1819 and the artifacts included the remains of slip-decorated pans, plates and bowls. "The sherds had been decorated with wavy lines of white slip, spirals of white slip, combinations of black and white slip to give a floral effect, or scroddled in marbled effect, or as alternating colored lines."

According to Watkins, "The eighteenth century Chace Pottery in Somerset, Massachusetts (southeastern Massachusetts) was indirectly responsible for the first steps in the career of a famous man when, on January 28, 1791, Elijah Cornell was apprenticed to Asa Chace. This young man's mother, Sarah (Miller) Cornell had made a second marriage with Asa's cousin, Benjamin Chace, and Elijah was no doubt familiar with the pottery from earliest childhood. 

Born in Swansea, Massachusetts in 1771, he had got what schooling he could receive there and had done a little teaching, but he evidently had a bent for the potter's craft. After his apprenticeship was ended, he worked as a journeyman potter. But for an ambitious youth, this was not enough.

In 1805, he sold out his holdings in Swansea and went to Westchester Landing in New York City. Cornell's subsequent history is one of many moves and much hardship, but gains interest because he was the father of Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University. 

Little Ezra gained the fortitude that was his while working in his father's redware pottery. In 1819, the family settled in DeRuyter, New York, where, after a period of teaching, Elijah again established a pottery, which Ezra helped to build. 

In 1943, we visited this site and were rewarded by the discovery of a small collection of fragments. Elijah had evidently advanced somewhat beyond the rather restrained technique of the Massachusetts potters, for in DeRuyter he decorated a good deal of his ware with slip of two colors, black and white, either marbled or applied in bold wavy lines against backgrounds of contrasting hue."

Below, I have shown a large nineteenth century slip-decorated red earthenware jar that I just acquired from an antiques picker, who lives near Los Angeles in California. This object is directly related to a rare slip-decorated jar that was attributed to Western New York, which Crocker Farm sold in Sparks, Maryland in 2011. Crocker Farm wrote, "This outstanding slip-decorated redware jar is attributed to the Rochester-Genesee Valley region in western New York. The jar is approximately two-gallons in size and it was wheel thrown in two pieces, then joined at the center."

Nevertheless, the style of the slip found on both of these large jars is similar to the sherds that I studied from DeRuyter at the Smithsonian; whereas, I now wonder if these objects are related to the Elijah Cornell Pottery after 1819.

Sherds Recovered at the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, NY

Slip-Decorated Sherds Recovered at the Site of the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, NY

Elijah Cornell Established the Pottery in DeRuyter in 1819

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Slip-Decorated Sherds Recovered at the Site of the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, NY

Elijah Cornell Established the Pottery in DeRuyter in 1819

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Slip-Decorated Sherds Recovered at the Site of the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, NY

Elijah Cornell Established the Pottery in DeRuyter in 1819

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Slip-Decorated Sherds Recovered at the Site of the Elijah Cornell Pottery in DeRuyter, NY

Elijah Cornell Established the Pottery in DeRuyter in 1819

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Red Earthenware Jar Recently Discovered Near Los Angeles

 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Attributed to Western New York

Possibly Made in DeRuyter, NY

Stands 14 1/2" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

 Another View of the Jar

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

 Another View of the Jar

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

 Another View of the Jar

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

 View of the Interior

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

View of the Base

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private Dealer Located in Glendora, CA

Western NY Jar that Sold at Crocker Farm in Maryland

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Attributed to Western New York

Form and Decoration is Likely the Same Potter Who Made the Jar Discussed Above

Stands 12" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Sparks, MD 

 Another View of the Jar

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Sparks, MD 

Another View of the Jar

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Sparks, MD 

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

An 18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherd that was Discovered in Germantown in Quincy, Massachusetts in the 1940s

According to the city of Quincy, Massachusetts, "In 1752, General Joseph Palmer (1716-1788) and Richard Cranch (1726-1811), brother-in-law of John Adams (1735-1826) and father of American jurist, William Cranch (1769-1855), were held by tenure of lease by a company interested in German immigration to create a planned manufacturing community in a section of Quincy known as Germantown. The land was to be settled in the 1750s by a group of glassmakers and weavers from Germany. The planned community had failed by 1760, but the name has remained."

Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins also wrote about Germantown in Quincy when she published 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares' in 1950, "Almost every authority on American ceramics has stated as a fact that pottery was made in the German colony at Quincy known as Germantown. Their reason for believing this to be so was that Judge William Cranch, a descendent of Richard Cranch, one of the proprietors of the eighteenth century German glassworks and other manufactures there, had picked up fragments of stoneware near the site of the enterprise. This I have done, also, and I have found sherds of slip-decorated red earthenware near the shore. I cannot, however, obtain any real proof that pottery making was one of the Germantown industries.

There is a list of the male members of the community in 1757 which I have used in an attempt to discover in their land records whether any of them were potters, but the search was fruitless, as an examination of documents in the state archives. It seems likely that Judge Cranch's finds were merely household breakage, particularly in view of the fact that stoneware could not be made of the local clay."

I was surprised last week when I studied the red earthenware sherds at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., which Watkins had collected on the shore in Germantown in Quincy in the 1940s. There was a wonderful slip-decorated sherd, which she discovered that she may have overlooked; whereas, similar styles of slip-decoration were manufactured by the German immigrant potters in Philadelphia during the same period.

This sherd is decorated with multiple colors of slip, as well as a tulip. This is a style of production that has never been associated with eighteenth century potters in New England, but this is a technique that could have been made by any Dutch or German potters, who had migrated to Germantown in Quincy in the 1750s.

I also feel this sherd is American-made, where this could be a style of production from Germantown that has been completely forgotten. I should also note that Watkins did not illustrate this sherd in 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares.'

Note: I also noticed with the sherds that Lura Woodside Watkins collected in Germantown in Quincy, Massachusetts that some were likely from the eighteenth century industry in Charlestown, Massachusetts. I have posted one of those sherds below, which resembles some of the mid-eighteenth century red earthenware chamber pots that were recovered by archaeologists in Charlestown in the 1980s as part of Boston's Big Dig Project. I have previously published on this website, as well as in the New England Antiques Journal that red earthenware from Charlestown was shipped all over New England and Canada before the American Revolution, but I have not previously found evidence that it ended up in Quincy before 1775.

18th Century Slip-Decorated Sherd Found in Germantown

 18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherd Decorated with a Tulip

Found on the Shore in Germantown in Quincy, MA

Possibly Made in Germantown
Possibly Circa 1750s

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

View of the Base

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Map Shows Location of Germantown in Quincy, MA

18th Century Map that Shows Location of Germantown in Quincy, MA

Quincy is Located Less-Than 10 Miles South of Boston

Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia

18th Century Charlestown, MA Sherd Found in Germantown

 18th Century Red Earthenware Sherd Collected on the Shore in Germantown in Quincy, MA

Likely Made in Charlestown, MA

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Another View of the Charlestown, MA Sherd Found on the Shore in Germantown in Quincy, MA

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

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

A Rare Massachusetts Red Earthenware Pitcher Compared to a Sherd that is Owned by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

I visited the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. two days ago to study the museum's collection of eighteenth, nineteenth and early-twentieth century American-made red earthenware and stoneware, as well as the archaeology collections from various potter's sites in New England and New York. I will be writing about much of the archaeology over the next few weeks; although, I will also share some of the important objects that I saw, as well

Nevertheless, I picked up this wonderful late-eighteenth or early-nineteenth century green and maroon glazed red earthenware pitcher on my way to the Smithsonian last week. I successfully won this object at an onsite auction in New Jersey a few week's ago during Columbus Day Weekend, and the auctioneer had brought it back to their auction gallery in northeast Pennsylvania. The color on this object is incredible; whereas, it is attributed to the potter's industry in southeastern Massachusetts. But I have never seen this form from this industry before even though the handle, the glaze and the footed base are known from the potter's businesses in this section of Massachusetts. This is also a distinct glaze that I have never seen from any other potter's industry before.

However, I was excited to learn at the Smithsonian that Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) had collected a matching decorated red earthenware sherd in Somerset, Massachusetts in the 1940s.

I have always found it difficult to attribute some of the red earthenware from southeastern Massachusetts to a specific potter's business, as a result of the number of potters, who were employed in the 1700s and 1800s. Although, I believe this sherd can now attribute this wonderful pitcher to Somerset, which likely means that this object was made at either the Chace Pottery or the Puritan Pottery in the late-1700s or early-1800s.

Somerset, Massachusetts Potter's Industry

George Brown (Somerset, MA)

Samuel B. Collins (Somerset, MA)

Benjamin Cartwright Chase Jr. – son of Benjamin (Norwalk, CT and Somerset, MA)

Joseph Gray (Somerset, MA) - 1854

Benajmin Cleveland (Somerset, MA) – 1856

Charles E. Hathaway (Somerset, MA) – 1880-1895

            Chace Family Pottery

Leonard Chace – son of Clark (Somerset, MA)

Stephen Chace III – son of Stephen II (Somerset, MA) 

Clark Chace – son of Asa (Somerset, MA)

Asa Chace (Somerset, MA) - 1744-1812

Stephen Chace – son of Asa (Somerset, MA) – 1769-1815

Elijah Cornell (Swansea “Somerset”, MA and New York State) – 1771-1862

Stephen Chace II – son of Stephen (Somerset, MA) – d. after 1824

Joseph Chace – son of Asa (Somerset, MA) – 1785-1815

Enoch Boyce Chace (Berkley and Somerset, MA) – 1794-1825

Clark Chace Jr. – son of Asa (Somerset, MA) – b. 1814

Benjamin G. Chace Sr. – son of Clark (Somerset, MA) – b. 1812    

            Purinton Pottery of South Danvers and Somerset, MA

Daniel Purinton (South Danvers and Somerset, MA) – d. 1764

Clark Purinton – son of Daniel (Somerset, Mass) – 1730-1786

Clark Purinton Jr. – son of Clark (Somerset, Mass) – d. 1817

George Purinton – son of Clark Jr. (Somerset, Mass) - 1835

David P. Purinton – son of Samuel (Somersett, MA) – 1856

Dexter Purinton (Somerset, MA) - 1856

George S. Purinton (Somerset, MA) – 1856

Samuel S. Purinton (Somersett, MA) – 1856

            Shove Family of Swansea & Berkely, Mass

Theophilus Shove (Somerset, Mass) – 1741-1831   

            Synan Family of Somerset

Patrick Synan (Somerset, MA) – 1893
William Synan (Somerset, MA) - 1893

Note: This pitcher was likely never made with a lid; although, a previous owner did carve a make-do wooden cover with a ceramic knob that fits it perfectly. I also suspect that this lid was made for this object in the nineteenth century.

Red Earthenware Pitcher Acquired from Onsite Sale in New Jersey

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher

Attributed to the Potter's Industry in Southeastern Massachusetts

Likely Made at Either the Chace Pottery or the Puritan Pottery in Somerset, MA

Circa 1780-1820

Stands 5 3/8" Tall Without the Lid

See Article for More Information

 Another View of the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

  Another View of the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

View of the Handle

See Article for More Information

View of the Base

See Article for More Information

 View of the Homemade Lid

This Pitcher was Probably Not Made with a Lid

See Article for More Information

  Another View of the Homemade Lid

This Pitcher was Probably Not Made with a Lid

See Article for More Information

Sherd Recovered in Somerset, Mass.

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Sherd

Recovered in Somerset, Mass. in the 1940s by Author, Lura Woodside Watkins

Glaze Style Closely Resembles the Glaze Found on the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Another View of the Sherd

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

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

The History of the Red Earthenware Kept at the Early-Nineteenth Century Captain Elias Davis House in Gloucester, Massachusetts

Yesterday, I visited the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester, Massachusetts to view a new exhibit, 'Drawn from Nature & on Stone: The Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane." This exhibition runs from October 7, 2017 until March 4, 2018; where the museum describes Lane as "America's preeminent marine artist of the mid-nineteenth century." But Lane was also an accomplished printmaker having produced a wide variety of lithographs, which include coastal views and historic images, such as Gloucester, Castine, Maine, Saint John, New Brunswick, Newburyport, Massachusetts, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Middlesex Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, Norwich, Connecticut, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland, as well as lithographs of landmark buildings, decorative images, sheet music and historic figures.

"Drawn from Nature & on Stone features lithographs from the Cape Ann Museum's own holdings and from collections throughout the region including the American Antiquarian Society, the Boston Athenaeum, the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress. The exhibition offers scholars and lay people alike the opportunity to explore the intersection of Lane's work as a printmaker and a painter."

However, I also visited the early-nineteenth century Captain Elias Davis (1758-1821) House, a three-story Federal Period home in Gloucester, which happens to be attached to the museum and furnished with a wonderful selection of decorative arts that mostly retain a local history of ownership.

According to the Cape Ann Museum, "The Captain Elias Davis House, built in 1804 by one of Gloucester's most successful sea captains, houses much of the museum's furniture and decorative arts collection in the four rooms on the house's first floor. In keeping with life in the early-nineteenth century, the house is furnished and decorated with domestic and personal items. Many of the objects in the house actually belonged to Elias Davis and his descendants."

I posted most of the pictures that I took of the interior of this house yesterday on my Facebook page, but I did not include the collection of late-eighteenth/nineteenth century and possibly twentieth century red earthenware. It is interesting to see many of these objects in this type of context since it appears that the potters in Peabody, Massachusetts and Newburyport, Massachusetts were exporting their wares to Gloucester during this period; whereas, I have previously published on this website that the potter's from Newburyport and Peabody exported elsewhere in New England in the eighteenth century.

Nevertheless, this collection also included nineteenth century slip-decorated objects from Long Island in New York and Pennsylvania; although, it is not known if these objects directly retain a local history of ownership. But I would also like to note that examples of Long Island pottery have been recovered in nineteenth century contexts of ownership on Cape Cod in the early-twentieth century by Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares), and red earthenware from Philadelphia has also been recovered in nineteenth century contexts of ownership in places like Boston and Salem, Massachusetts.

Note: I have not posted the entire collection of red earthenware that is kept at the Captain Elias House in Gloucester, Massachusetts - there were simple utilitarian objects, as well that included some dishes, food molds and pots. However, I thought the following objects had the most potential to tell a story about the type of red earthenware that was possibly available in Gloucester in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There was also a large collection of European and Chinese ceramics kept in this house, which also retained a history of ownership.

Captain Elias Davis House, Gloucester, Mass.

Captain Elias Davis House in Gloucester, Mass.

Built in 1804

See Article for More Information

Collection of Red Earthenware at the Captain Elias Davis House

(Left) 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Plate

Attributed to Pennsylvania, Possibly Philadelphia

See Article for More Information

(Middle) 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Plate

Attributed to Pennsylvania, Possibly Philadelphia

See Article for More Information

(Right) 19th Century Red Earthenware Jug

Likely Made in Essex County, Mass.

See Article for More Informatioin

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

(Back) 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Plate

Attributed to Long Island

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

(Front) 18th or 19th Century Red Earthenware Bowl

Attributed to the Industry in Peabody, Mass.

Similar Bowl Pictured in 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares'

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

Another View of the Bowl

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

(Back) 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

New England or Mid-Atlantic Origin

See Article for More Information

(Front) Likely 18th or 19th Century Red Earthenware Creamer or Small Pitcher

Likely Made in Newburyport, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

(Left) 19th Century Black-Glazed Red Earthenware Mugs

Likely Made in Essex County, Mass.

 See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

(Right) 19th or 20th Century Red Earthenware Flower Pots

Attributed to Peabody, Mass.

Similar Objects Pictured in 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares'

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

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

A Preview of an Upcoming Published Article in the November 2017 Edition of the New England Antiques Journal

Yesterday, I mentioned in a short post on Facebook that my latest published article will be included in the November 2017 edition of the New England Antiques Journal. This article will analyze the eighteenth and nineteenth century red earthenware potter's industry in Peabody, Massachusetts; although, this industry continued into the twentieth century with the Moses Paige Pottery, which is a potter's business that I have recently written about on this website.

One of the main points that I discuss in this article is the use of slip-decoration within this industry, where it has been previously published that slip was not really used by the potter's in Peabody after 1750. But I have found evidence that suggests slip was occasionally manufactured by this industry into the 1800s even though it was not on a large scale, such as was the production with many of the potters in Pennsylvania during the same period.

Nevertheless, the idea that eighteenth century French-inspired forms were also produced in Peabody is a topic that is also discussed; whereas, a similar style of French-inspired production has been recovered within an eighteenth century colonial archaeological context at the site of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

Other topics in this article include newly discovered sherds and kiln waste found at a potter's site in Peabody and elsewhere in the area, archaeological evidence from Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, as well as previously unpublished objects from museum collections and private collections.

Note: The following pictures were not included in the upcoming article, but all of these objects are attributed to the potter's industry in Peabody, Massachusetts by the Peabody Historical Society from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Three of the images shown below display objects that were made at the Moses Paige Pottery in the late-nineteenth and twentieth century, which is a style of production that can often be mistaken for other locations today.

Various Objects Made in Peabody, Mass.

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher

Attributed to Peabody, Mass., Possibly the Osborn Pottery
Similar Object Recovered in Salem, Mass. Within a Circa 1770-1810 Archaeological Context

Circa 1770-1820

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

  Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Jug, Lid and Pitcher

Attributed to Peabody, Mass., Possibly the Osborn Pottery
Similar Pitcher Recovered in Salem, Mass. Within a Circa 1770-1810 Archaeological Context

All Objects Shown Here Likely Circa 1770-1820
The Jug Could Also Be Mistaken for Production in SE Mass. from the Same Period

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar

Attributed to Peabody, Mass.

A Similar Form was Made in North Yarmouth, ME
There was an Influence from Essex County, Mass. with some of the Production in North Yarmouth

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

Moses Paige Pottery in Peabody, Mass.

 Early-20th Century Green-Glazed Red Earthenware Vase

Attributed to the Moses Paige Pottery in Peabody, Mass.
This Type of Production Would Likely Be Attributed Elsewhere Today

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

 Early-20th Century Red Earthenware Stew Pot

Attributed to the Moses Paige Pottery in Peabody, Mass.

Likely Made by John Donovan at the Paige Pottery

A Matching Stamped with Donovan's Name is Owned by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
This Type of Production Would Likely Be Attributed Elsewhere Today

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

Late-19th or Early-20th Century Red Earthenware Candlesticks

Attributed to the Moses Paige Pottery in Peabody, Mass.
This Type of Production Would Likely Be Attributed Elsewhere Today

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

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