19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Found Years Ago in Elmira, Ontario

I just acquired this nineteenth century red earthenware jar yesterday from a listing posted in an Antique Canadian Pottery Group on Facebook by Ontario antiques dealer, Jamie McDougall. This piece was previously owned by John Wine, whose great lifelong collection I wrote about earlier this year when it sold at Miller & Miller Auctions in New Hamburg, Ontario.

This jar was supposedly found years ago in Elmira, Ontario, a small community located about seventy miles west of Toronto. It was suggested that it may have been made at the William Eby (1831-1910) Pottery in Constogo, Ontario, circa 1855-1907. Although, the form, the flat rim, the handles, the finger impression on the handle terminals, the incised lines, the clay color and the glaze color also closely resemble wares made along the Great Road in southwest Virginia and east Tennessee in the 1800s. Some of the Great Road Pottery also displays form and glaze comparisons to North Carolina's Moravian pottery tradition from the eighteenth and nineteenth century.

I will post more information and additional pictures once this jar arrives at my house; in the meantime, these are some of the pictures that were shared with me yesterday.  It is also worth noting that some of the other pieces that were posted appear to have originated in Pennsylvania in the nineteenth century, some of which were also found by John Wine in Ontario.

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Found Years Ago in Elmira, Ontario

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Found Years Ago in Elmira, Ontario

Form Resembles Some Objects Manufactured Along the Great Road in SW VA and East TN

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Jamie McDougall

Another View of the Jar

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Photo Courtesy: Jamie McDougall

View of One Handle

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Photo Courtesy: Jamie McDougall

View of the Other Handle

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Photo Courtesy: Jamie McDougall

View of the Base

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Jamie McDougall

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

Incredible Late Seventeenth or Early Eighteenth Century Red Earthenware Jugs Recovered in Manhattan

Yesterday, I posted this picture showing these two important red earthenware jugs to my Instagram account, which were recently published in an article written by archaeologists, Meta F. Janowitz and Diana diZerega Wall for the 2017 issue of Ceramics in America, titled "New York, New York."

According to the information that I posted: I have completed a number of writing projects in the last six weeks; among those projects is a story I wrote about red earthenware recovered in New York City. This story is entirely based on archaeology, along with some of the exports that were shipped to the city in the 1700s. I also briefly tell the story of Frederick Rhinelander (1742/43-1805), a Manhattan based merchant who was importing Philadelphia red earthenware during the circa 1772-1774 period, based on information found in his account books kept at the New York Historical Society in Manhattan. Amanda Lange from Historic Deerfield in Massachusetts kindly let me include this part of his career from her research.

I handled these jugs last fall when I visited the New York City Archaeological Repository in Manhattan. It is believed that these jugs were likely locally made in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, possibly from the same business, and modeled after Dutch production. They were recovered from the Stadt Huys Block Site in Manhattan, near the original New Amsterdam settlement at the location of the circa 1670-1706 Sir Francis Lovelace (ca. 1621-1675) tavern.

I am hoping the story of these jugs, Rhinelander and other artifacts will head to publication later this year, as part of my ongoing writing series about early pottery recovered in New York City. My previous New York City research stories have included articles published in the October 2018 issue of Maine Antique Digest, as well as the January 31, 2020 issue of Antiques & the Arts Weekly.

Colonial Red Earthenware Jugs Recovered in Manhattan

Late Seventeenth or Early Eighteenth Century Red Earthenware Jugs 

Recovered at the Site of the Sir Lovelace Tavern in Manhattan

Possibly Manufactured at the Same Business

Circa 1670-1706

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: New York City Archaeological Repository

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

Great 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish Recovered in New York City

I have previously posted some articles on this website showing some of the great slip-decorated red earthenware recovered by Scott Jordan and Maribelle Costes within various eighteenth and nineteenth century contexts in New York City, including Manhattan and Staten Island. I also illustrated a number of these slipware objects, as well as other artifacts kept at the New York State Museum in Albany, New York, which were published in a research article I wrote for the October 2018 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, "The Red Earthenware Available in the 18th and 19th Centuries in New York City."

This is another example of domestic slipware found in New York City by Scott Jordan and Maribelle Costes, which was recovered from a nineteenth century privy. For a few months now, I have thought about where this piece could have been made, and I cannot recall having seen this type of decoration before on pottery manufactured in Connecticut, Manhattan, Long Island, New Jersey or Pennsylvania. These are the areas that typically makeup the domestic red earthenware found in New York City in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. 

Although, this really is a spectacular discovery; the manufacture of this dish reminds me of dishes produced at the Huntington Pottery on Long Island, as well as a business established by Henry Jacob Van Saun (1755-1829) in River Edge, Bergen County, New Jersey about 1811. The business was later purchased by George Wolfkiel (1805-1867), a potter who had relocated from Franklin County, Pennsylvania, as early as 1830. In fact, Wolfkiel is responsible for a lot of the slipware produced in River Edge until 1867.

Interestingly, though, I viewed a somewhat similar designed nineteenth century slip-decorated red earthenware dish last year that was recovered from a nineteenth century context in Patterson, New Jersey. Patterson is located near Bergen County and about eighteen miles northwest of Manhattan.

Some of the slipware manufactured in River Edge was also discussed in a research story I wrote for the January 31, 2020 issue of Antiques & the Arts Weekly, titled, "Early Red Earthenware & Stoneware Found on Staten Island."

19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish Recovered in New York City

19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish Recovered in New York City

Possibly Made at the Huntington Pottery on Long Island or River Edge, New Jersey

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Scott Jordan and Maribelle Costes

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

A Recently Acquired Group of Red Earthenware Lids from a Connecticut Collection

This is a collection of  lids that I recently purchased from Rhode Island antiques dealer and artist, John Sideli that were previously collected by Connecticut antiques dealers, Ron and Penny Dionne. In fact, I recently wrote about the Dionne Collection, which I consider to be one of the finest collections of red earthenware ever assembled in New England, most of which has since been purchased by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

This is most of the lids; it is not the best image since I quickly took this picture yesterday while it was raining. But this is really an excellent selection of lids, including manufacturers in Monmouth, Maine, elsewhere in northern New England, Merrimacport, Massachusetts, Bristol County, Massachusetts, as well as two slip-decorated lids from the Seymour Pottery in West Hartford, Connecticut. Interestingly, there is even a green glazed West Hartford lid, a glaze color that I have not previously seen on a lid from this industry before.

Although, I was quite pleased with one of the green glazed Bristol County lids since it is an excellent fit for a green glazed late-eighteenth or early-nineteenth century red earthenware pitcher I own, also from Bristol County, which was previously owned by Sheffield, Massachusetts antiques dealer, Sam Herrup.

Note: I also want to mention that a research story I wrote about the eighteenth and nineteenth century Concord, New Hampshire red earthenware industry was scheduled to run in the May 2020 issue of Maine Antique Digest; that story has now been pushed back to another issue sometime later this spring or early summer.

A Recently Acquired Collection of Red Earthenware Lids

Selection of Red Earthenware Lids Once Owned by Ron and Penny Dionne from CT

See Article for More Information

Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher from Bristol County, Mass.

One of the Bristol County Lids was a Perfect Match for this Pitcher

See Article for More Information

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

Glazed Terracotta Figure Discovered at the Site of the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company on Staten Island

While working on a research project late last year for Antiques & the Arts Weekly about eighteenth and nineteenth century utilitarian pottery found on Staten Island in New York City, I learned about this glazed terracotta figure from the collection of Historic Richmond Town at the Staten Island Historical Society.

This figure was discovered before 1976 at the site of the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company in Tottenville on Staten Island by Robert Anderson. It is believed that the figure represents the "Dutch Boy" trademark paint logo, which was first incorporated when the paint company was established in 1907. The standing male figure is seen wearing a hat and his hands are in his pockets. The historical society also describes the figure as having been modeled by hand and not made in a mold.

Founded in the late-1890s by De Forest Grant, William D. Frerichs, S.S. Whitehurst and Charles U. Thrall, the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company became one of the largest terra cotta manufacturers in the United States, largely as a result of company mergers. The first merger occurred in 1906-07 when the Perth Amboy, New Jersey Terra Cotta Company, the Excelsior Terra Cotta Company, and the Standard Terra Cotta Company merged with the Staten Island firm under the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company name. The company's production was also split between its location at 101 Ellis Street on Staten Island and the main factory and kilns that were located about four miles south in Perth Amboy.

According to the historical society,  "For over three decades, the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company designed and manufactured architectural fabric and ornament sculpture, and garden pottery that was installed and used in almost every major American city, as well as abroad. Founded in 1897, the company opened its factory in Tottenville, Staten Island, in 1898 and expanded rapidly. By 1906, the Tottenvville plant was employing 450 to 500 men and was producing the fabric and ornament for such prestigious projects as the first New York City subway stations, the upper stories of the Flatiron Building, and the Plaza Hotel."

Note: The Staten Island research story I was working on was eventually published in the January 31, 2020 issue of Antiques & the Arts Weekly, titled, Early Red Earthenware & Stoneware Found on Staten Island.

Glazed Terracotta Figure Discovered at the Site of the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company

Hand Modeled Glazed Terracotta Figure 

Discovered at the Site of the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company on Staten Island

Possibly Represents the "Dutch Boy" Trademark Paint Logo

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Staten Island Historical Society

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

Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish from the Collection of the Staten Island Historical Society

Published in the January 31, 2020 issue of Antiques & the Arts Weekly is a research story I wrote about some of the utilitarian pottery found on Staten Island in New York City in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, titled, Early Red Earthenware & Stoneware Found on Staten Island. The article presented some great archaeology, as well as objects that retained a local history of ownership from the collection of Historic Richmond Town at the Staten Island Historical Society.

This slip-decorated red earthenware dish is included in the historical society's collection, although it was not published in the article because it does not retain as strong a context of ownership as the other pieces that were illustrated.

The museum suggests this dish was made by Absalom Day (1770-1843) in Norwalk, Connecticut, seeing that the style of the slip is a design known to have been produced by Day. In fact, some of the slip technique is also similar to that found on a slip-script advertising dish, inscribed, "Day's Pottery," which was made by Day, now owned by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as published in an article written by Richard Miller for the 2016 issue of Ceramics in America, titled, Norwalk (Connecticut) Slip-script Pottery, the Potters and Related Ware.

Interestingly, though the back of this dish has been impressed with a serrated heart and the initials "AWJ." I have not been able to determine the meaning of this mark, although I have seen similar marks (but not exactly the same) with archaeology recovered in Philadelphia, as well as a Philadelphia slip-decorated red earthenware dish that was recovered in Albany, New York, now kept at the New York State Museum.

Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish Impressed with a Heart and Initials

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

The Style of the Slip Resembles Some Techniques Manufactured by Absalom Day in Norwalk, CT

Circa 1795-1815

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Staten Island Historical Society

The Back Has Been Impressed with a Serrated Heart and the Initials "AWJ"

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Staten Island Historical Society

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

Forthcoming Western New York Research Story that will be Published in Antiques & Auction News

Last summer, I visited the Das Haus Museum located at the original Prussian Lutheran settlement near Niagara Falls in the village of Bergholz. The goal of the visit was to learn more about Carl Ludwig Heinrich Mehwaldt's (1809-1887) red earthenware production, circa early-1850s to 1887, although he was a third generation German born potter who also worked in Russia and Lebanon. This research has led to a feature story I wrote that will be published in an upcoming issue of Antiques & Auction News; I worked with the museum on the story, which will include some interesting never before published information and pictures.

A major angle in the article is some of the incredibly unusual production he made as memorials for his sons and possibly another person who died in the Civil War, as well as some objects that were manufactured for the Holy Ghost Church in Bergholz. The church was built in 1847 and torn down in 1906. Most of these objects have gone missing since they were published in articles written by author Ada Walker Camehl (1866-1939) for the Buffalo Historical Society (now the Buffalo History Museum) and The Magazine Antiques in the 1920s. I truly believe that these objects are among the most unique pieces of American red earthenware manufactured anywhere in America, and true masterpieces, showing Mehwaldt's incredible skill as a potter. These are also objects that are not widely known today, but they certainly should be recognized on a national level.

Holy Ghost Church in the Berholz Settlement in Western New York

The Holy Ghost Church at the Bergholz Settlement in Western New York

The Church was Built in 1847 and Torn Down in 1906

Mehwaldt Produced Some Special Pottery that Hung in the Church

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The Das Haus Museum

Nevertheless, I thought this piece of red earthenware from the Das Haus Museum's collection would be of interest since it appears like a form commonly attributed to European production today. This is far from the most colorful wares made by Mehwaldt, but this piece is of interest, seeing that it is attributed to Mehwaldt's production in Bergholz. Although, this is the only piece like this that I have seen that I believe can be attributed to Mehwaldt because I am not sure how to differentiate it from similar wares made in Europe in the 1800s. This cooking mold is not included in the article, although some of the exciting wares illustrated include other objects from the museum's collection, along with wares from the private collection of Gene Pratt, the New York State Museum and the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Some of these objects can also be mistaken for production from Pennsylvania today.

Cooking Mold Attributed to the Mehwaldt Pottery in Western New York

 19th Century Red Earthenware Cooking Mold

Attributed to the Mehwaldt Pottery in Western New York

Circa Early-1850s to 1887

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The Das Haus Museum

 Another View of the Mold

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Photo Courtesy: The Das Haus Museum

View of the Base

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Photo Courtesy: The Das Haus Museum

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