Happy Easter! These are two unusual Easter related red earthenware objects; the first is a late nineteenth century red earthenware "Hen on Nest" candy dish from Pennsylvania (only example I have ever seen!). The form features a nest on the bottom and a hen as the lid. This was a popular glass form during the Victorian Period, although the origin of the form dates back centuries in places like England and Germany. Before this shape was mass-produced, German children would create makeshift nests using their own caps and bonnets hidden in gardens, homes, or barns. They hoped the Osterhase (or Easter Hare) would fill these simple "nests" with dyed eggs overnight.
Interestingly, I saw some examples of these types of eighteenth and nineteenth century dyed eggs from Pennsylvania a few weeks ago, while speaking at Historic Tappe in southeastern Pennsylvania about the research article I wrote for the 2025 issue of Americana Insights: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/03/2025-americana-symposium-at-historic.html.
The second is a painted easter egg with a removable cover that was made at the A.H. Hews Pottery in North Cambridge, Massachusetts after 1871. The paint is original to production. The base is stamped "A.H. HEWS & CO. / NO. CAMBRIDGE / MASS." For more information - see a feature story I wrote for the March 17, 2023 issue of Antiques and the Arts Weekly, titled, The Abraham Hews Pottery Of Weston & North Cambridge, Mass.: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2023/03/new-published-story-in-antiques-and.html.
For a brief history that will be included in my forthcoming two-volume, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts: "Easter became a widely popular holiday in the United States during the late nineteenth century, specifically following the Civil War. Before this time, many American religious groups, like the Puritans, avoided the holiday because of its non-Christian origins. By the Victorian era, the tradition of dyeing eggs and holding egg hunts (something that was already celebrated by Germans in Pennsylvania) had been widely adopted, growing significantly in popularity by the early twentieth century, especially in major east coast cities like New York City and the Boston area.
The religious holiday transformed into a family-centered celebration marked by new traditions like the New York City Easter Parade and the first White House Easter Egg Roll in 1878, followed by the Easter Parade on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston's Back Bay, etc.
The Easter Bunny followed a similar timeline, originally arriving in America in the 1700s as a German folk legend called the "Osterhase" (Easter Hare). This tradition remained local to German immigrant communities in Pennsylvania for over a century before spreading nationwide in the late 1800s. By the early 1900s, the name officially shifted from the "Easter Hare" to the more child-friendly "Easter Bunny," solidifying its place as a commercial and cultural icon of the holiday."
Note: There are a wide variety of nineteenth century Easter related objects known from the Pennsylvania Germans today.
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
