Black Glazed Red Earthenware Bowl Found in Lititz, Pennsylvania

Towards the end of every year I try to go through all of my old pictures that I intended to write something about, but never did, and post an article about the objects that I photographed. This post is an example of that. 

While driving home in the pouring rain from central Pennsylvania a few months ago, I stopped at an antique shop in Lititz, Pennsylvania, called Brickerville Antiques Barn. I saw the shop as I was driving past it, and decided to further investigate. 

The shop had some Pennsylvania red earthenware and locally made stoneware, but this double handled bowl caught my attention. It's heavy in weight, decorated in a thick black glaze, and manufactured from red earthenware the color of a brick. All of these characteristics I believe are American attributes, although it could also be from a country English manufacturer. The handles are also ribbed, but the ribs are partially filled in by the thick glaze. At the base of each handle terminal is a finger impression showing how they were attached to the bowl.

However, to this day, I have not been able to figure out any more information about it, but I thought it was worth writing about this morning. My goal has been to find a related form, but my search has been empty thus far.

Black Glazed Red Earthenware Bowl Found in Lititz, Pennsylvania

Brickerville Antiques Barn in Lititz, PA

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Black Glazed Red Earthenware Bowl with Two Handles Found in Lititz, PA
Likely Made in American or England

Measures 12 7/8" in Diameter from Handle to Handle

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View of the Interior

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View of One Handle

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View of the Base and the Brick Red Colored Clay

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

A Private Collection of Jars Likely Made at the Peter Clark Pottery in Lyndeborough, New Hampshire

As I promised a few days ago, here is my collection of late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century red earthenware jars that I believe were made by Peter Clark and his family in Lyndeborough, New Hampshire. The newest addition is the jar furthest to the right, which I just purchased last weekend from New Hampshire antiques dealer, John Rogers at Josh and Rachel Gurley's annual Thanksgiving weekend antique show in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

I posted earlier this week, "A feature story I wrote about Peter Clark's (1743-1826) pottery production in Braintree, Massachusetts and Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, titled, "A Pottery Moves to New Hampshire: Peter Clark and His Family in Lyndeborough" was published in the August 2016 issue of the New England Antiques Journal, now the Digital Antiques Journal.

Clark was an Essex County, Massachusetts trained potter, who established a business in Braintree in the 1760s, before migrating to Lyndeborough in January of 1775. As it would be expected, the pottery made thereafter by Clark in New Hampshire presented a strong coastal Massachusetts influence in form. He then taught his sons the trade, some of whom helped establish the industry in Concord, New Hampshire in the 1790s, which the family was involved with until the 1880s.

I find these type of jars regularly attributed to Massachusetts, but based on archaeology and examples of Peter Clark's production in the New Hampshire Historical Society, I believe all of these jars were made by Peter Clark and the Clark family in New Hampshire. The jars also vary in size and somewhat in form, and some are manufactured with all types of incised lines. But they all present the same large round footed base (among other features), a characteristic that Clark learned in coastal Massachusetts, which he then brought with him to New Hampshire months before the Revolutionary War began."

In the next week or so, I plan to post a jug I own that I believe was also made at the Peter Clark Pottery, which I found years ago near Lyndeborough. The jug is manufactured with a large round footed base, which is a strong characteristic of wares made in coastal Massachusetts. And it may date to the eighteenth century. But this type of base is also found on wares manufactured at the industry in North Yarmouth, Maine, which was established by an Essex County trained potter, who migrated from Newburyport, Massachusetts in the 1790s. For more on this industry, I suggest a research story I wrote that was published in the November 2019 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, "The Yarmouth, Maine, Pottery Industry, 1791-1890."

Red Earthenware Jars Likely Made at the Peter Clark Pottery in Lyndeborough, N.H.

Collection of Red Earthenware Jars Likely Made at the Peter Clark Pottery in Lyndeborough, N.H.

Circa 1775-1826

Largest Stands 11" Tall

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

The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1629-1818, by Thomas Bellows Wyman

While speaking last night with Massachusetts potter Rick Hamelin, it dawned on me that I should write about the origin of what is largely known about the colonial potters in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (1892-1982) wrote extensively about Charlestown's industry in Early New England Potters and Their Wares, but her information was mainly drawn from two sources  - the first being John Parker's (1725-65) 1747-1761 potter's daybook from  Charlestown owned by the Baker Library at Harvard University, which is relatively well documented today.

John Parker's 1747-1761 Potter's Daybook from Charlestown, Mass.

John Parker's 1747-1761 Potter's Daybook from Charlestown, Mass.

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Photo Courtesy: Baker Library at Harvard University

However, it may not be widely known that the bulk of Watkins' information came from Thomas Bellows Wyman (1817-78), who's research into the history of Charlestown was published the year after his death. The two volume set, The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1629-1818, was published in 1879. It is because of this publication that Watkins was able to write Chapter 4, "The Provincial Potters of Charlestown," which has since been cited over and over again, including throughout many archaeology reports.

Interestingly, this research was certainly held special by Bellows since he was a lifelong resident of Charlestown, born on December 11, 1817. He also appears to have been a descendant of Charlestown's pottery industry - his mother was Mary Frothingham (1791-1875), who was a descendant of Benjamin Frothingham (1679-1729), a local Charlestown red earthenware potter from the early-eighteenth century. Benjamin Frothingham was related to the Kettle family, which was one of  the earliest families producing red earthenware anywhere in America, dating to the seventeenth century. He may have trained at the Kettle Pottery in Charlestown in the early-1700s.

Nevertheless, I recently purchased a first edition of this two volume set, and the information it contains is wonderful. Although, I suspect there is still yet more to be uncovered about the history of Charlestown's pre-1775 industry and its potters, than what has already been published by Thomas Bellows Wyman and later cited by Lura Woodside Watkins. But this is an excellent publication that should be owned by anyone who enjoys New England pottery, as well as the history of Boston and Charlestown. I am more than thrilled to own a copy!

The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1629-1818

 Thomas Bellows Wyman (1817-78)

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The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1629-1818

Volume I, A-J

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The Genealogies and Estates of Charlestown, Massachusetts, 1629-1818

Volume II, K-Z

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 Thomas Bellows Wyman's (1817-78) Gravestone
He was Buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass.

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

19th Century Stoneware Syrup Jug with a Face Attributed to Murray Kirkpatrick in Illinois

While visiting a store in New England last weekend, I came across a good book that may not be well known outside of Illinois or the Midwestern region, although I had not heard of it before. The name  of the book is Arts, Crafts and Architecture in Early Illinois written by Betty Madden and published by the University of Illinois Press in 1974.

I was rather surprised while quickly scanning through the book to find a decent amount of writing devoted to nineteenth century pottery production in Illinois. And it was not just stoneware production, but it also included the state's red earthenware industry. I have always felt that the overall identity of Illinois' red earthenware production to be much greater than what is known today (at least on a national level), outside of the wares made at the industry in Galena, Illinois.

Nevertheless, I recommend the book, and I had to take a picture of this stoneware jug that is illustrated, reportedly attributed to Murray Kirkpatrick in Vermilionville, La Salle County, Illinois, who was brother to Cornwall (1814-90) and Wallace Kirkpatrick (1828-96). This was made before Cornwall and Wallace established the pottery in Anna that they are so well known for today.

According to an article written by Ellen Paul Denker for Northeast Historical Archaeology in 1980, titled, "The Kirkpatricks' Pottery, Anna, Illinois," "The Kirkpatricks did not begin their lives or careers in Anna. Cornwall, Murray, Wallace and other Kirkpatrick brothers were quite literally born into the American pottery tradition. Their father, Andrew (1788-1865) was a potter born in Washington, Pennsylvania, in 1788. He married and moved to Fredericktown, Knox County, Ohio before 1814, the year of Cornwall's birth. By 1820, the family had moved again, this time to Urbana, Champaign County, Ohio, where Andrew had a small red earthenware pottery.

According to Cornwall's biography, he left school at the age of 12 to begin work as a clerk and book keeper in a store. After seven years he returned home and learned the trade of potter with his father, remaining about one year, and mastering the business before the year expired. 

In 1837, he took over his father's business in Urbana. Andrew, his wife, and what children remained with them (including Wallace) moved to Vermilionville in northern Illinois. Andrew took over another pottery begun by another son John, several years earlier."

There are a number of aspects about this jug that are certainly worth noting: first and foremost, it is owned by the La Salle County Historical Museum in North Utica, Illinois, and attributed to Cornwall Kirkpatrick in Vermilionville. But it is also decorated with a face, some cobalt, and it was used as a syrup jug.

It is also fascinating to see how the production of the face and the facial expression is nearly identical to the manufacture of some of the figures that adorn the temperance jugs made by the Kirkpatricks in Anna. For example, similar  faces can be found on a temperance jug made for caricature artist, Thomas Nast (1840-1902) in 1871, which I consider to be one of the best examples of American pottery in existence, displayed by the New York Historical Society in New York City.

Note: Here is a link to an article I posted in June 2018 that describes the temperance jug made by the Kirkpatricks in Anna, Illinois, displayed at the New York Historical Society.

Stoneware Syrup Jug with a Face Attributed to Murray Kirkpatrick

19th Stoneware Syrup Jug Decorated with a Face and Cobalt Decoration

Attributed to Murray Kirkpatrick in Vermilionville, IL

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Photo Courtesy: La Salle County Historical Museum

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

Wonderful 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Pan Recovered in East Tennessee

According to Paul Avery of Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc. in Lexington, Kentucky, "In 2013, C.R.A.  was contacted by the Tennessee Department of Transportation to conduct archaeological testing at a site in Knox County, Tennessee ahead of planned improvements. Local historians thought the site might have been the location of a colonial-era station known as Reynold's Station. 

Historical research indicated that the first inhabitant of the site was likely George Perry, who purchased the tract of land in 1799, and built a two story log house shortly thereafter. Although, little is known of Perry historically, he is believed to have owned as many as 24 slaves, making him one of the larger slave owners in East Tennessee. Perry died in 1836 and his 1,286 acres of land were purchased by William Pledge Harbison in 1842. Harbison was also a slave owner, but records indicate that he owned no more than five at one time. In 1865, Harbison divided his land holdings among his children, deeding 140 acres and the house to his daughter Sarah Harbison Neal. Sarah had married James Frank Neal in 1857, and they would live in her father's house until her death in 1923. At that time, the property passed out of the family through a series of trustee sales to O.M. and Eva Cardwell, who demolished the home and built a modern house in 1932."

Archaeologists recovered a wide range of artifacts from the Perry Site, which included every period of occupation from the prehistoric period through the twentieth century. Many of the artifacts were recovered from eight cellars, all of which likely dated from George Perry's occupancy, six of which are thought to have been below slave cabins.

The remains of this nineteenth century red earthenware pan adorned in various styles of slip-decoration was recovered from one of the cellar foudations, which seem to have been filled in before the Harbison occupancy in 1842.

The style of the slip certainly appears like it could be from Pennsylvania, but the marbled interior decoration found in the center of the pan was also a style produced in New Market, Virginia and Hagerstown, Maryland, among other places.

Slipware Pan Recovered in East Tennessee

19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Pan Recovered in East Tennessee

Probably Made by a Mid-Atlantic Potter

Recovered from the George Perry Site in Knox County, TN

Circa 1799-1842

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Photo Courtesy: Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc.

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

A Selection of Jars Likely Made at the Peter Clark Pottery in Lyndeborough, New Hampshire

A feature story I wrote about Peter Clark's (1743-1826) pottery production in Braintree, Massachusetts and Lyndeborough, New Hampshire, titled, "A Pottery Moves to New Hampshire: Peter Clark and His Family in Lyndeborough" was published in the August 2016 issue of the New England Antiques Journal, now the Digital Antiques Journal.

Clark was an Essex County, Massachusetts trained potter, who established a business in Braintree in the 1760s, before migrating to Lyndeborough in January of 1775. As it would be expected, the pottery made thereafter by Clark in New Hampshire presented a strong coastal Massachusetts influence in form. He then taught his sons the trade, some of whom helped establish the industry in Concord, New Hampshire in the 1790s, which the family was involved with until the 1880s.

I find these type of jars regularly attributed to Massachusetts, but based on archaeology and examples of Peter Clark's production in the New Hampshire Historical Society, I believe all of these jars were made by Peter Clark and the Clark family in New Hampshire. The jars also vary in size and somewhat in form, and some are manufactured with all types of incised lines. But they all present the same large round footed base (among other features), a characteristic that Clark learned in coastal Massachusetts, which he then brought with him to New Hampshire months before the Revolutionary War began.

Later this week, I will post a collection of jars related to this type of production that I have acquired through the years, all demonstrating different decorative styles, but all from the same business. In fact, I just purchased my most recent jar last weekend from New Hampshire antiques dealer, John Rogers at Josh and Rachel Gurley's annual Thanksgiving weekend antique show in Marlborough, Massachusetts.

Red Earthenware Jars Likely Made at the Peter Clark Pottery in Lyndeborough, N.H.

Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made at the Peter Clark Pottery in Lyndeborough, N.H.

Circa 1775-1826

Stands 11" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Northeast Auctions

Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made at the Peter Clark Pottery in Lyndeborough, N.H.

Circa 1775-1826

Stands 8 1/2" Tall

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Photo Courtesy: Northeast Auctions

Red Earthenware Jar Likely Made at the Peter Clark Pottery in Lyndeborough, N.H.

Circa 1775-1826

Stands 7 7/8" Tall

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Photo Courtesy: Northeast Auctions

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

Simeon Bray Story Featured in the December 1, 2019 Issue of the Digital Antiques Journal

You may recall a story I posted last month about a nineteenth century stoneware temperance snake jug attributed to Simeon Bray (1849-1914) in Evansville, Indiana - that story has just been published in the December 1, 2019 issue of the Digital Antiques Journal. It is part of a larger story, titled, "Booze Matters," which not only discusses the Indiana jug, but it also focuses on early glass bottles, as well.

Simeon Bray Story Featured in the December 1, 2019 Issue of the Digital Antiques Journal

Simeon Bray Story Featured in the December 1, 2019 Issue of the Digital Antiques Journal

This Jug is Featured as Part of a Larger Story, Titled, "Booze Matters"

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