EarlyAmericanCeramics.com

Monday, September 3, 2018

The Purinton Family Red Earthenware Marriage Jars from Southeastern Massachusetts on Display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

Earlier this summer, I posted an article that identified the whereabouts of a pair of red earthenware marriage jars from the Purinton family in southeastern Massachusetts. The location of these jars was last publicly known in the 1970s when they were advertised in the Magazine Antiques, and have been owned privately ever since. I also made it a priority to visit these objects during my recent trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

This is what I published on this website on June 22, 2018, "I was first introduced to this remarkable pair of red earthenware marriage jars, made for George and Debby Purinton in Somerset, Massachusetts by Falmouth, Massachusetts antiques dealers, Hilary and Paulette Nolan, as well as Sheffield, Massachusetts antiques dealer, Sam Herrup. On a few occasions, I have written about these objects on this website, but I also recently cited the jars in a feature story I wrote about the eighteenth and nineteenth century pottery industry in southeastern Massachusetts for the June 2018 issue of Maine Antique Digest.

However, I only knew about the existence of these jars based on an advertisement placed by antiques dealers, John Bihler and Henry Coger in the January 1974 edition of the Magazine Antiques. Although, I knew the jars have been in private ownership since the 1970s, but I was not aware they had been recently gifted to a prominent museum in New York City.

I learned earlier this week that they had been acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art thanks to Port Jefferson, New York collector, Anthony Butera who frequently visits the museum. Apparently, the jars have been in Manhattan for a few years now, but they were just recently added to an exhibit for public viewing in Gallery 704, located in the museum's Americana Wing.

According to the MET, "In the 1970s, Robert A. Ellison Jr. began collecting the works of the most celebrated European artist-potters favoring large-scale works with stunning glazes. The Museum recently acquired 76 works from the Ellison Collection that represent some of the best examples of Art Pottery produced in Europe between 1880 and 1930.

Bob Ellison also made a spectacular promised gift of more than 300 American ceramics to the Museum in 2009 (which include these marriage jars that finally made their way to the museum in 2015)."

Aside from the history, these jars demonstrate a miraculous amount of skill, especially the style of slip-decoration, which is hardly found with red earthenware production in New England before or after the American Revolution. But the handles are also fascinating since this form of jar is typically found without handles today.

Here is also a link to a New York Times article from 2009, which further analyzes Robert A. Ellison Jr.'s Collection; whereas, Antiques and the Arts Weekly has also published some stories about Ellison in recent years."

Southeastern Massachusetts Red Earthenware Marriage Jar

Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Marriage Jars from Southeastern Mass.

Made for George and Debby Purinton

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Photo Courtesy: Anthony Butera and Metropolitan Museum of Art

Information Exhibited with the Marriage Jars

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Another View of the Jars

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View of One of the Jars

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Another View of the Jars

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Another View of the Jars

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Another View of the Jars

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

Collection of American Ceramics Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City owns an exceptional collection of American ceramics that span various periods of production - from the eighteenth century household wares right through the arts and crafts period of the twentieth century. It's all there to study - the museum offers a little bit of everything, from traditional utilitarian red earthenware production to eighteenth and nineteenth century stoneware, to more refined ceramics and even artware.

Last week, I posted an article about a great late-eighteenth or early-nineteenth century slip-decorated red earthenware pot that I recently acquired, which my nephew Jason and myself brought to the steps of the MET in Manhattan. We thought it was the most appropriate place to photograph the object since it was directly linked to the museum and hundreds of artifacts owned by the museum. Until recently, the pot had descended in the family of Robert Weeks and Emily Johnston De Forest, who were instrumental in developing the MET's collection of artifacts in the late-nineteenth and twentieth century.

After we photographed the pot, we spent the next three or four hours touring the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we enjoyed decorative arts from ancient-to-modern civilizations from all around the world. But we also made it a priority to see the Americana Wing.

The collection of American ceramics in the MET is as diverse as any other major museum's collection of American pottery. However, the MET may also be the most daring in the variety of ceramics it displays, which likely could only be duplicated by combining collections from multiple museums throughout the country.

In fact, there are a number of iconic pieces on display, such as wares from New England, New York, New Jersey, the Mid-Atlantic region, the South and even the Midwest. It's a splendid assortment that may take more than one visit to really understand the magnitude of what the museum has collected in the past 100 or more years.

The following pictures are merely an example of what is on display, and it should also be noted that the pottery is displayed throughout the Americana Wing; it's not all centrally located in one room or a single display.

Some of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Red Earthenware Collection

My Nephew Jason with Some of the American Red Earthenware Owned by the MET

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Some of the Domestic Red Earthenware Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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George Ohr Ceramics, Biloxi, Mississippi

Ceramics Made by George Ohr in Biloxi, Mississippi

Circa 19th and Early-20th Century

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Red Earthenware Bottle

19th Century American Red Earthenware Bottle

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Another View of the Bottle

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Information on Display with the Bottle

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Stasburg, VA Stoneware Water Cooler

19th Century Stoneware Water Cooler Made in Strasburg, VA

Possibly Made by Richard Franklin (Polk) Bell

Circa 1870-1890

Stands 14 1/2" Tall

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Anna, IL Stoneware Jug

19th Century Anna, Illinois Stoneware Temperance Snake Jug

Circa 1877

Stands 9 7/8" Tall

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18th Century Manhattan Stoneware

18th Century Stoneware Jug Attributed to John Crolius in Manhattan

Circa 1775

Stands 10" Tall

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Another View of the Jug

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Another View of the Jug

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Information on Display with the Jug

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Three of the Four Century Vases Owned by the MET Made in Brooklyn, NY

19th Century Union Porcelain Works Century Vase

Made by Karl L.H. Muller in Brooklyn, NY

Made in 1877

Stands 12 3/4" Tall

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19th Century Union Porcelain Works Century Vase

Made by Karl L.H. Muller in Brooklyn, NY

Made in 1877

Stands 12 3/4" Tall

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19th Century Union Porcelain Works Century Vase

Made by Karl L.H. Muller in Brooklyn, NY

Made in 1877

Stands 12 3/4" Tall

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

Sunday, September 2, 2018

Red Earthenware Jug Recently Found in an Old Barn in Bolsters Mills, Maine

I discovered this early-to-mid-nineteenth century spotted orange and green glazed red earthenware jug with my niece Alexis this morning at Todd's Farm Flea Market in Rowley, Massachusetts. Although the handle was broken, the nineteenth century owners still found a use for it to store molasses and a rope was tied around the neck to carry the jug.

The dealer told us his wife found the jug inside an old barn in Bolsters Mills, Maine, which is located to the north of Long Lake and Sebago Lake. Interestingly, this jug does have an Essex County, Massachusetts appearance to it, but it may have been made nearby at one of the potteries that operated in Bridgeton, Maine throughout the 1800s. The men who ran these potteries, such as the Kitson family are believed to have trained under potters whose backgrounds can be traced back to the industry in Essex County from the 1770s to the 1790s.

It should also be taken into consideration that the glaze found on this jug is too often attributed to the Osborn family in Gonic, New Hampshire today. This is actually a type of glaze found on red earthenware manufactured all over America and even in some parts of Canada.

Red Earthenware Jug Found in an Old Barn in Bolsters Mills, ME

My Niece Alexis Pictured with the Red Earthenware Jug

We Found the Jug Today at Todd's Farm Flea Market in Rowley, Mass.

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Early-to-Mid 19th Century Red Earthenware Jug

Recently Found in an Old Barn in Bolsters Mills, ME

Possibly Made at One of the Potteries in Bridgeton, ME

Stands 8 3/4" Tall

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Another View of the Jug

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Another View of the Jug

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View of the Incised Lines Around the Body, Neck and Rim

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Another View of the Jug

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Another View of the Jug

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Another View of the Jug

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

The Port Potters Pottery in Newburyport, Massachusetts

I noticed a great sign while watching a documentary yesterday by Lawrence Rosenblum from 1975 entitled, "Newburyport: A Measure of Change," which is about the city's twentieth century historic preservation. According to the Newburyport Preservation Trust, "This documentary is an eye-opener for every new arrival to Newburyport, and for those who may have forgotten the 1960s and 1970s. In just 29 minutes, the documentary examines the landmark decision to use historic preservation principles for the first time in Federal HUD urban renewal."

As I watched this documentary, I saw a great old photograph from the 1950s that displayed an old forgotten potter's business in Newburyport. The early-nineteenth century building still stands on Newburyport's waterfront today, but the business is long gone. However, the simple sign on the exterior of the building is what really stood out, which read, "PORT POTTERS."

I stopped at this building this morning with my niece Alexis on our way home from Todd's Farm Flea Market in Rowley, Massachusetts. The building seems to be in disrepair, and it may currently be owned by a boatyard. But the history of this building still remains.

According to the City of Newburyport, "This wooden building appears to date to the early-nineteenth century and was probably built by a member of the Cushing family. It was located on what was known as Cushing's Wharf. The Cushings were a prominent family of merchants and imported salt, hemp and other merchandise as well as engaging in the East India Trade. Their mansion on High Street is now home of the Historical Society of Old Newbury. The Cushing family continued to own the wharf and buildings on it until at least 1924.

The 1888 Sanborn Insurance map indicates that the building, which included a wooden wing to the south, was being used as a molasses warehouse. The importation of sugar and molasses from the West Indies was a major source of revenue to the port at Newburyport.

The 1894, 1900 and 1906 maps indicate that the building was a storehouse. By 1914 the building was being used to store coal and wood as part of J.H. Balch's Coal Yard. The wooden wing was removed between 1946 and 1961.

Beginning about 1950, the building was used by the Port Potters Pottery, which resulted in the construction of the concrete block addition to the south."

Nevertheless, it would be great to learn the whereabouts of this pottery sign today. I really hope it still exists. Does anyone reading this recognize this sign? I also remember as a kid in the 1980s and early-1990s, visiting this building and another building next door with my parents, since they had been converted into antique shops.

Port Potters Pottery in Newburyport, Mass.