A Great 19th Century Cobalt and Figural Decorated Stoneware Inkwell that Sold in 1975 as Part of the Mr. and Mrs. Charles V. Hagler Collection of Michigan

Some of you reading this post may recognize this great nineteenth century cobalt and figural decorated inkwell or inkstand from a Facebook post earlier this week, although it is unquestionably a special object, and certainly among the best red earthenware or stoneware inkwells known to exist from an American potter today! 

This inkwell last sold nearly fifty years ago, as part of the Mr. and Mrs. Charles V. Hagler Collection of American Stoneware at Kinzle Auction Center on August 16, 1975 in Duncansville, Pennsylvania. It sold for $1,200 with no buyer's premium, which was a strong price back then, however the price would be significantly larger today.

It has been suggested that this inkwell was manufactured in Ohio in the 1800s, but I would not rule out western Pennsylvania, either, seeing that the spaniel that adorns this inkstand is also similar to some larger nineteenth century stoneware spaniel figurals made at the various potteries in this part of Pennsylvania during the second-half of the 1800s.

Furthermore, Charles Hagler was President of the Detroit Historical Commission and Vice President of the Michigan Historical Society. His wife, Katherine was curator of furniture at the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan. 

Some of the objects from this landmark sale have gone onto sell for much higher prices, such as a nineteenth century heavily incised and cobalt decorated stoneware jug from Ohio, which sold at Sotheby's in Manhattan on January 20, 2007: https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2007/distinguished-american-furniture-and-folk-art-the-collection-of-susan-and-mark-laracy-n08280/lot.83.html.

Note: For more information about inkstands - see a feature story that I wrote for the March 12, 2021 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, A 19th-Century Inkstand from Etna, Ohio: An Examination of the Work Attributed To Swiss Potter Jacob Rudolph (1822-63), Working in Ohio: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2021/03/new-publish-research-story-jacob.html.

19th Century Cobalt and Figural Decorated Stoneware Inkwell

19th Century Cobalt and Figural Decorated Inkwell or Inkstand

Likely Made in Either Ohio or Western Pennsylvania

Ex Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles V. Hagler of Michigan

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private Collection

Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles V. Hagler of Michigan

Sold at Kinzle Auction Center on August 16, 1975 in Pennsylvania

Photo Courtesy: Mike Pell

Pleases Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...

A Lot of Red Earthenware that Just Sold at William Smith's in New Hampshire, Including a Slip-Script Decorated Red Earthenware Jug that Previously Sold as Part of the Gilman Collection at Sotheby's

There have been a number of prominent American red earthenware collections sold at auction in the last 40 to 50 years; although, the Howard Gilman Foundation Sale at Christie's Auctions in New York City in January of 2003 and June of 2004 was certainly one of the most competitive. A friend once described the significance of this collection to me: "The Howard Gilman Foundation was a private collecting vehicle of the Gilman Brothers Company, a large privately owned forest products company in Georgia. They had a New York office, where they displayed redware, decoys, and a world-class photography collection, which went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The redware collection was assembled in the 1980s and early-1990s. It was owned by two Gilman brothers and sold in two separate sales at Christies."

Nevertheless, an eighteenth century slip-script decorated red earthenware jug sold earlier this week at William Smith Auctions in Plainfield, New Hampshire. The jug was included in a group lot and was likely English in origin, inscribed in slip with perhaps initials and possibly the year of manufacture "1794;" the lot sold for $1,200 plus the buyer's premium: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/180429654_19th-c-redware-7pcs.

Interestingly, this jug had previously sold as part of lot number 96 in the Gilman Sale in June of 2004, along with two nineteenth century slip decorated red earthenware plates most likely from Pennsylvania. This lot sold back then for $3,885, including the buyer's premium.

Note: For more information about the the Howard Gilman Collection - see a story that I posted to this website on May 23, 2018: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2018/05/the-howard-gilman-foundation-collection.html.

A Lot of Red Earthenware that Just Sold in at William Smith's in N.H.

A Lot of Red Earthenware that Just Sold in at William Smith's in N.H.

The Slip-Script Jug Shown to the Bottom Left Originally Sold in the Gilman Collection in N.Y.C.

The Jug Stands 8" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: William Smith Auctions

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

A Brief Overview of 19th Century Red Earthenware Production in Erie County, New York

Ontario County in Western New York is probably the county that gets the most credit today for red earthenware production in the nineteenth century because of name likes Colonel Nathaniel Rochester (1752-1831) and Alvin Wilcox (1801-1862), etc. Although, I have recently gotten a better understanding of the wares manufactured in Erie County, New York, as a result of the two-volume books that I am currently working on, titled, America's Great Awakening and Migration: The Red Earthenware of Western New York.

This is an important county today in terms of red earthenware production with Buffalo as the centerpiece of the area, however it was the surrounding communities to the north, east and south that really defined this county's production. In fact, the potter's in this area came from all over, including relocating from Ontario County, as well as other places, such as Germany and New England.

The communities from this region that were producing colorfully glazed red earthenware, include Newstead, Mill Grove, West Seneca, Aurora (East Aurora), Collins and Colden, among certainly others. There are even some wares that will be illustrated in my forthcoming books that were found in Buffalo, although the potter or potters have not been identified. Niagara County was also a significant area, as Carl Mehwaldt (1808-1887) is believed to have shipped some red earthenware from the village of Bergholz to Buffalo after 1850, by way of the Niagara River. 

Additionally, I posted an article last week that previewed two forthcoming feature stories that I have coming out in Antiques And The Arts Weekly, which will highlight two specific potters, who spent at least part of their careers in Erie County. I also noted a major undocumented pottery business in that article that is cited in the 1850 United States Federal Census in Colden, Erie County, New York. According to the census, "Sherman + Graham” were manufactures of utilitarian pottery, producing 50,000 pieces of earthenware annually from 25 tons of clay and 1,200 pounds of lead. The name Graham on this record is significant because this may be the same Graham that I have written a feature story about that will be published in the next few weeks in Antiques And The Arts Weekly.

19th Century Red Earthenware Production in Erie County, N.Y.

This is Where Erie County is Located in Western New York

See Article for More Information

Examples of 19th C. Red Earthenware Most Likely Made in Erie County, New York

See Article for More Information

Photos: Courtesy: Various Private Collections and the Rochester Museum

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

18th Century Documents Pertaining to Captain Peter Clark and His Company's Service During the American Revolution

The foundation of my forthcoming more than 600-page New Hampshire book, titled, An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses is really a result of Captain Peter Clark's (1743-1826) red earthenware production in Braintree, Massachusetts in the 1760s through part of the 1770s, and then in Lyndeborough and Francistown, New Hampshire after 1775 into the nineteenth century. Without Clark's career as a potter, then his family would have most likely never influenced production throughout New Hampshire and other parts of northern New England from the 1790s through the 1880s. But Clark's career entailed much more than just being a potter; for instance, he also led a military Company out of Lyndeborough during the American Revolution, which is preserved in the two documents that I have posted below that will be published in the forthcoming book. 

Both of these documents are from before and after the Battle of Bennington (Vermont) on August 16, 1777 (the first document is from July 1777, while the second is from September 1777), whereas the Bennington Museum in Vermont owns a letter (among other objects related to Clark) that Clark wrote to his wife and family, describing the Battle of Bennington, which he had recently participated in under General John Stark (1728-1822), dated August 18, 1777.

The second document indicates that Clark's company is now in route to Saratoga, New York, where they fought in the Battles of Saratoga, which took place September 19, 1777 to October 7, 1777.

Furthermore, I also posted a late eighteenth or early nineteenth century red earthenware jar that I purchased this past spring that was most likely made at one of Peter Clark's businesses in New Hampshire, following his service in the American Revolution. The jar was purchased as part of the first installment of the Beth & Earl Trimble salt glazed stoneware collection that sold in May at Amelia Jeffer's two-day Americana and Ohio Valley Auction in Ohio.

Note: For more information - see a feature story that I wrote for the August 2016 issue of the New England Antiques Journal, titled, A Pottery Moves to New Hampshire: Peter Clark and His Family in Lyndeborough: https://www.scribd.com/document/321580352/Peter-Clark-Pottery-New-England-Antiques-Journal-August-2016.

Also, see a five-page feature story that I wrote for the June 2021 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, The Red Earthenware Industry in Concord, New Hampshire: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2021/05/new-published-feature-story-concord-nh.html.

Captain Peter Clark and His Company's Service During the American Revolution

Pay roll of Captain Peter Clark’s Company which “marched from Lyndeborough (New Hampshire) July 1777 and joined the Northern Continental Army"

Captain Clark’s name is listed first

See Article for More Information

Captain Peter Clark’s Company cited in another document from September 1777

The Company is now in route to Saratoga, New York

Captain Clark’s name is listed first

See Article for More Information

Late 18th or Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar from New England

Most Likely Made by a Member of the Clark Family in N.H.

Circa 1780-1830

Stands 8 1/2" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Amelia Jeffers

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

Some 19th Century Census Records from the Clark Family of Potters in Concord, New Hampshire

The focal point of my forthcoming New Hampshire book is the Clark family in Braintree, Massachusetts and throughout southcentral and Concord, Hampshire, as well as how they directly and indirectly influenced red earthenware production elsewhere in New Hampshire and in parts of Vermont. It is debatable where the family was most prominent in New Hampshire, whether it be the Lyndeborough and Francistown area in the eighteenth and nineteenth century or in Concord in the 1790s through the 1880s. 

Nevertheless, Daniel Clark (1768-1828) established the Concord business in the 1790s; the company was then taken over Daniel's sons Daniel Clark II (ca. 1792-1863) and Peter Clark (1794-1855) upon his death in 1828. The company was then passed to Daniel II's son John Farmer Clark (1832-1885) about 1863, where the business continued to operate until around the time of his death in 1885.

Interestingly, while going through census records a few months back, I was surprised to find Daniel Clark II listed with an occupation of a farmer in the 1850 and 1860 Federal Censuses, whereas pottery production must have helped supplement his yearly income. This was a surprise, seeing that the family was such a prominent name in New Hampshire's red earthenware production after 1775; perhaps the Concord business was not as successful around the mid-1800s. But it was a very different story with John Farmer Clark, who is cited as an "Earthenware Manufacturer" in the 1870 Federal Census.

Note: For more information - see a five-page feature story that I wrote for the June 2021 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, The Red Earthenware Industry in Concord, New Hampshire: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2021/05/new-published-feature-story-concord-nh.html.

Some Census Records from the Clark Family of Potters in Concord, N.H.

Daniel Clark is still listed with an occupation of farmer in the 1850 Federal Census in Concord, New Hampshire, although he was also likely still working as a potter

See Article for More Information

Daniel Clark is still listed with an occupation of farmer in the 1860 Federal Census in Concord, New Hampshire, although he was also likely still working as a potter

See Article for More Information

John F. Clark listed as an Earthenware Manufacturer in the 1870 Federal Census in Concord, New Hampshire

See Article for More Information

On a side note - I also wanted to show the incised decoration on this nineteenth century green glazed red earthenware mug that was reportedly made at the Osborn Pottery in Gonic, New Hampshire. This mug is owned today as part of the Lura Woodside Watkins (1897-1982) Collection at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. I doubt there is any connection, but the exact style of the incised lines on this mug is also a type that was applied by Ben Owen Sr. (1904-1983), among other potters in North Carolina in the 1900s. There are also other examples of red earthenware thought to have been made in Gonic with this same incised decoration.

19th Century Red Earthenware Mug with Incised Lines

Reportedly Made at the Osborn Pottery in Gonic, New Hampshire

 This Exact Decoration is also Found on Some Pottery Made in N.C. in the 1900s

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History

Another View of the Mug

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History

Unmarked 20th Century Earthenware Vase

Attributed to J.H. Owen in Seagrove, North Carolina

Decorated with a Similar Style of Incised Lines as the Mug Shown Above

Circa 1920s or So

Stands 4 7/8" Tall

Measures 6 1/2" Across

See Article for More Information

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

A Very Good Probably 18th Century Red Earthenware Mug that Appeared Yesterday in Western New York

For those of you who follow Muleskinner Antiques weekly emails that typically come across on Mondays and Thursdays, then you may have seen a very good probably eighteenth century barrel-shaped red earthenware mug from New England that was advertised yesterday. The mug was decorated with a mottled green glaze and some faint black decoration; this is a type of glaze (although sometimes a lot brighter) that is found with some production in Massachusetts in the 1700s.

Interestingly, the form of this mug is also a style that Massachusetts author Lura Woodside Watkins (1897-1982) collected at the site of the circa 1760s-1790s Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Massachusetts before her book Early New England Potters and Their Wares was published. The artifacts collected at the site of this business are kept today at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Below I have posted two mugs that were recovered at the site of the pottery business, although they are a little different in shape, but they are adorned with a similar glaze and a very similar base.

For more information - see my most recent published book, From One Town Came Many: The Red Earthenware Industry of Ancient North Yarmouth, Maine, where I explain in the first chapter how the Bayley Pottery contributed to the establishment of this industry in Maine in the 1790s: https://historicbeverly.net/product/94597/.

A Very Good Probably 18th Century Red Earthenware Mug

Probably 18th Century Barrel Formed Red Earthenware Mug

Possibly Made at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Possibly Circa 1760s-1790s

Stands About 6" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Muleskinner Antiques

The Way the Base is Made Closer Resembles the Sherds Below

Although this Exact Shape of Mug has also Been Recovered in Newburyport, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Muleskinner Antiques

18th Century Red Earthenware Mugs

Recovered at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Circa 1760s-1790s

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History 

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

A Great Example of 19th Century Canadian Pottery Found Decades Ago in an Estate in Niagara County, New York

This is a great three-piece nineteenth century red earthenware tobacco humidor that I learned about yesterday, which includes a jar with a lid and a stand, although I was told that it was found about forty years ago in a Western New York estate in North Tonawanda, Niagara County, New York. The jar is manufactured with dancing characters surrounding the exterior, while the lid is adorned with dolphins. The only auction result that I can find of a comparable example is one that sold at IEGOR auctions in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2016: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/43728435_dion-pottery-1836-1916-quebec.

There is also a related object in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Ontario, however it is missing its base, but the museum indicates that their example was made at the circa 1854-1918 Dion Pottery in L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, Canada during the circa 1880-1890 period: https://collections.rom.on.ca/objects/163900/tobacco-jar?ctx=2d3a88c2-fc49-4639-a3bb-c0f475904f38&idx=6.

Additionally, there are also several related examples owned by the Museum of Canadian History in Quebec: https://www.historymuseum.ca/collections/artifact/89761, where the museum also owns several other related forms, including planters and flower urns.

According to the book, Early Canadian Pottery written in 1971 by archaeologist and museum specialist Donald Webster, "Until the beginnings of the industrial period, effectively 1860, pottery-making in Quebec had changed very little from the French period - however, after 1860, stoneware, yellow-ware and Rockingham ware was all produced in factory settings before any kind of red earthenware production took place.

The last, longest lived, and by far the largest of the earthenware potteries was the Dion factory at Ancienne Lorette. First established by Jean Dion as a small pottery about 1855, the operation grew slowly, and a brother, Antoine Dion took over the business about 1870. The factory during the next few decades produced a great range of utility wares, ethnically French even at this late date, made from local red-firing clay, but (the pottery) also drew on the new technology to produce red earthenware molded and slip-cast wares. The Dions at one time or another turned out just about everything that could be produced in red earthenware, including some superb special and experimental pieces.

Antoine Dion's four sons joined the firm at various times in later years and managed it and a subsidiary pottery until the business closed in 1918. Pottery emerged from the Dion factories in vast quantity, and is still found in Quebec antique shops (as of when the book was published)"

Nonetheless, this outstanding object is currently for sale privately; should anyone have any serious interest - please message me and I can put you in contact with the seller.

Note: I came across a very good large two piece red earthenware urn a few summers ago that was found in an estate in Medway, Massachusetts. I have never been able to identify the maker, whether it be American or Canadian, although it does share some similarities to some of the larger elaborate objects made by the Dions in Quebec: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2022/05/an-incredible-19th-century-red.html.

Canadian Pottery Found Decades Ago in an Estate in Niagara County, N.Y.

19th Century Red Earthenware Tobacco Humidor

Made at the Dion Pottery in L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec, Canada

Found Decades Ago in an Estate in North Tonawanda, Niagara County, New York

Circa 1880s

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private Collection

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