Huge Results At Crocker Farm Auctions in Maryland

Crocker Farm Auctions in Sparks, Maryland - held its annual summer sale over the weekend. The prices for early southern and mid-Atlantic redware held strong, while examples of redware from the northeast appear to be more predictable with expected prices.

However, the early American stoneware market is a whole other unexpected, but still somewhat expected and explainable story. Prices for "the best" examples of quality early stoneware are at an unprecedented height and an all-time high. A number of records were broken at Crocker Farm on Saturday and to be a little more specific - these records were not only broken - audience members saw record numbers easily passed that have stood strong for a number of years.

The previous auction record for an example of Baltimore or Maryland stoneware was set in 2004 by a bird decorated water cooler made by Henry Remmey, Sr. The four gallon jug sold for $72,600 after premiums.

4 Gallon Stoneware Water Cooler

Attributed to Henry Remmey, Sr. - Baltimore, Md

(Circa 1821-1829) 

Sold for $72,600 in 2004

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc - Sparks, Md

On Saturday, a six gallon water cooler made by William Morgan in Baltimore between 1822 and 1827 more than tripled the previous high (Remmey, Sr.) for an example of Baltimore stoneware. The final hammer price was $200,000 with premiums then added on. The decoration is a work of art that depicts a pair of perched birds on a flowering tree with leaves and a trunk base rooted at the mouth of the water cooler. The drawing truly demonstrates a stencil-like design and no matter the canvas - this type of folk art is desired by collectors and institutions the country-over. It is in my opinion that this water cooler is the finest decorated example of stoneware to exist. The design is simply wonderful and even more surprising - it being entirely incised while colored in with cobalt blue decoration.

6 Gallon Stoneware Water Cooler with Bird and Tree Decoration

Attributed to William Morgan - Baltimore, Md

(Circa 1822-1827)

Sold for $230,000 with Premiums

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc - Sparks, Md

Crocker Farm described the stoneware jar as one of the finest examples of early American stoneware known. "Arguably the finest surviving example of early Baltimore stoneware, this water cooler stands among the highest-quality stoneware produced in America during the period. Its pleasing form, pure gray clay body, and artfully-conceived-and-executed incised decoration, delicately filled with vibrant cobalt-oxide glaze, all combined to make this example a masterwork from the moment of its production."

An example of Manhattan stoneware, likely made by either the Remmey or Crolius family crushed the pre-auction estimate of $20,000 to $30,000. It sold for $175,000 before auction premiums. The result was a new record for all New York stoneware whether it being an example of upstate New York or New York City.

The jar demonstrates an incised eagle and flower decoration with the date October 25, 1802 partially placed below each handle.

Manhattan Stoneware Snuff Jar - Manhattan, NY

Attributed to Remmey or Crolius Family

Incised "Oct 25, 1802"

Sold for $195,500 with Premiums

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc - Sparks, Md

It is assumed the Manhattan snuff jar was purchased by Adam Weitsman - who is an important New York stoneware collector and benefactor of the New York State Museum. The museum displays much of Weitsman's stoneware collection and it can be expected this jar may be on display sometime in the near future.

Here is a link for more on the Weitsman Stoneware Collection.

The matching pair of Samuel Bell redware whippets made in Strasburg, Virginia sold for $100,000 plus premiums. I recently wrote a report about the history of these two dogs.

Samuel Bell Report

Both dogs were signed by Bell - with Strasburg, Va and September 21, 1841 prominently displayed on the underside.

Pair of Samuel Bell Redware Whippets - Strasburg, Va

Incised with the date "Sept 21, 1841"

Sold for $115,000 with Premiums

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc - Sparks, Md

 Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc - Sparks, Md

The Bell's were a large family of redware and stoneware potters who's nineteenth-century accomplished work was known in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. The previous record for an example of this family's work was set in 2005 with a similar formed dog made by John Bell in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania achieving $41,800. After premiums, each Samuel Bell dog broke the John Bell record by well-over $10,000.

John Bell Redware Whippet - Waynesboro, Pa

Circa 1880

Sold for $41,800 in 2005

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm, Inc - Sparks, Md

Pook and Pook Auctions in Downington, Pennsylvania recently sold an example of New Haven stoneware by Absalom Stedman for more than $400,000. At the time and even recently - I had questioned why this jug brought more than four times the high estimate, but based on this weekend's results - I guess it is indicative of the current market and the demand for "the best" American stoneware produced by the most-accomplished early American stoneware potters.

Absalom Stedman Stoneware Jar - New Haven, Ct

(Circa 1825-1830)

Sold for $402,900 in 2012

Photo Courtesy: Pook and Pook Auctions - Downington, Pa

Much more to come...

In Need of Help with Information on the Whereabouts of an 18th Century Potter's Daybook

I am asking for help towards the whereabouts of Daniel Bayley's eighteenth-century daybook or company ledger from his potter's business in colonial Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Bayley was one of a handful of potters who produced utilitarian wares in early New England. Newburyport is centrally located between Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Charlestown, Massachusetts. The Bayley daybook may hold key facts towards mapping out the entire intercoastal trade among functioning seaside potters - working near the Atlantic Ocean or rivers that emptied into the Atlantic up and down the eastern seaboard. However, there is a slight problem - the existence of the Bayley daybook is not known. It is assumed there was a company ledger, but whether it has survived through the years is another question and that's why I am asking for any possible help or solid ideas.

The Daniel Bayley pottery business and home was destroyed in the early twentieth-century when a Route 1 underpass was placed below High Street - one the city's two main roads - the other being Merrimac Street that runs along the Merrimac River.

A tunnel was dug below High Street and all the eighteenth-century homes that stood in the way and located inside the path of the underpass were sadly destroyed. This mistake would not have happened today, but regrettably, American history was often sacrificed for modernism years ago. Fortunately, Harvard Professor Lura Woodside Watkins rescued a great-deal of sherds as construction crews were excavating for the new highway road. All the artifacts that Watkins salvaged where donated to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. along with the remainder of her early American pottery collection. It is not believed that Bayley's daybook was a part of this collection.

 The One Time Residence of Daniel Bayley and the Bayley Pottery Company

High Street - Newburyport, Ma

Route 1 Highway Underpass that Destroyed a Number of Early Newburyport, Ma Homes

Daniel Bayley's Home and Business were Removed as a Result

Very Close to the Exact Location of Daniel Bayley's Home and Pottery Company

Directly east of where the Bayley Pottery Company and home once stood - is Saint Paul's Church in Newburyport. This is the church that Bayley belonged to for many years and is home to his final resting place. Like many colonists of the period, Bayley played a very active role within the church and of those responsibilities included the church organist.

 The View of Saint Paul's Church from Bayley's Home - Newburyport, Ma

 The View of Saint Paul's Church from Bayley's Home - Newburyport, Ma

 The Grounds at Saint Paul's Church - Newburyport, Ma

 More of the Landscape at Saint Paul's Church - Newburyport, Ma

 Saint Paul's Church Steeple - Newburyport, Ma

 Sign Posted on Saint Paul's Church Main Building - Newburyport, Ma

Part of the Early Cemetery at Saint Paul's Church - Newburyport, Ma

The Grave of Daniel Bayley

Saint Paul's Church - Newburyport, Ma

 Daniel Bayley Died February 29, 1792 at the Age of 63

He worked in the Potter's Business for More than 35 Years

I have not yet checked with Saint Paul's Church for any information on Bayley that they may have in their records. It is assumed that there may be some information, but it is not believed they own the company daybook. I am hoping that the daybook was not in the company building or home when construction crews demolished both last century.

Daniel Bayley was not only an early and important utilitarian potter, but he was also an engraver, writer and printer of religious sheet music. He even wrote original music that was used in a number of colonial churches in America. Bayley was obviously an accomplished individual. He was also a dedicated family man.

Harvard University's Baker Library owns copies of all the Bayley publications within its archival collection. Saint Paul's Church is thought to also own a few examples of Bayley's music. I found an original copy from 1771 on Ebay not too long ago for very-little money. The seller knew what it was since Bayley's name and date were printed on the cover, but I am guessing they overlooked the historical significance.

Bayley worked as an engraver at Market Square in Newburyport - which was about a quarter-mile from the church, his home and business on High Street.

Daniel Bayley Worked as a Sheet Music Publisher and Engraver

Bayley Worked at Market Square in Newburyport, Ma

The main reason I am asking for help in finding the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company daybook is to determine if there was any form of an export or import industry into Newburyport from additional American potters. For example - there was no stoneware production in Newburyport and it was never thought to have ever been attempted, but was it imported? Did stoneware come from continental Europe, England or additional American colonies? Did Bayley work with additional redware potters from New England or coastal colonial America with wholesale supply - whether it be Bayley acting as a retailer through import or the Bayley company wares exported through wholesale? Where did the Bayley Pottery retail? Was it sold out of the business on High Street or did he sell his wares in Market Square with sheet music?

The Merrimac River which runs alongside the most northern area of Newburyport - was a major international port in early Massachusetts and I am trying to determine the role that the Bayley Pottery Company played within this river's export and import business - if any.

 The Merrimac River Just Outside of Market Square - Newburyport, Ma

The Mouth of the Merrimac River Where the Atlantic Ocean is Met - Newburyport, Ma

It is also assumed the Bayley Pottery Company exported its wares upriver to the communities which were located along the Merrimac River. Which ones? I assume the daybook will provide this information, too. The list of customers could be very important for research. Lura Woodside Watkins did not get into this kind of detail in her book, "Early New England Potter's and Their Wares," but I would like with my own.

Lowell's Boat Yard - Amesbury, Ma

Founded in 1793 on the Merrimac River
A Few Miles Upriver from Market Square in Newburyport, Ma

My nephew and myself go out for a number of bike rides through Newburyport each week. Our rides usually find us searching the shores of the Merrimac River either on our way through the city or on our way back home. We almost always stumble upon eighteenth-century examples of utilitarian redware that appear to be the work of Bayley on the shore of the Merrimac River. Through my studies, I want to determine what exactly was happening on this river in terms of a redware industry. Did a domestic export and import industry exist? I think the daybook would answer many of these questions and be very important to research.

A Sample of How the Shores on the Merrimac River Appear Near the Mouth of the River

Newburyport, Ma

There is 18th Century Redware in This Photo!

Any help is greatly appreciated. I have asked the Olde Newbury Historical Society of Newburyport for any suggestions they may have towards the book's location, but so far they have not provided any good sources. Historic New England is not thought to have ownership - nor is Saint Paul's Church or the city of Newburyport. It very-well may be in a private collection, but I would not know where to begin if that is the case. Any ideas? This is all a part of my ongoing research towards the book I would like to write identifying the colonial redware industry of New England with a centralized emphasis of Charlestown, Massachusetts.

I would like to point out that Daniel Bayley's gravestone is covered in tulips. He died at the height of tulip decoration within the decorative arts by the Pennsylvania and North Carolina - German and Dutch immigrants of the late eighteenth-century. It is however, very interesting to see the use of tulip design in a very similar manner used by the decorative arts on a gravestone. I have written extensively on the use the tulips as a decorative means by the Germans and Dutch in previous reports. Search my website to find those write-ups. Was this just a decorative design or did it have more of a meaning when used on a gravestone? I'll write on this subject in a future report. If interesting enough, I may submit for publication, but regardless of that - I will still post a report here at a later time.

Tulip Decoration Used on Daniel Bayley's Gravestone - Newburyport, Ma

Much more  to come...

An Early Brickmakers Daybook of 19th Century Dorchester, Ma - An Interesting Story It Held!

Samuel Capen, a working-class brickmaker and native of eighteenth-century Dorchester, Massachusetts - manufactured bricks by the thousands for use in a number of area architectural needs in the nineteenth-century. Through my studies at Harvard University's Baker Library - I have been fortunate enough to review the daybook or company ledger that Capen used from 1800 thru 1817. Based on these dates - it is assumed that Capen likely worked earlier in the eighteenth-century and he may possibly have ties to a very early eighteenth-century Charlestown, Massachusetts potter.

Since I am not using this daybook in any of my writing and I only merely viewed it out of curiosity and reference - I figured I would share a few of the important records it holds.

Samuel Capen Daybook - Dorchester, Ma

Dated Used: 1800-1817

Capen was a Local Brickmaker

Photo Courtesy: Baker Library, Harvard University - School of Business - Boston, Ma

Enclosed loosely within it - and actually not part of the daybook, is a contract for a man known as John Consil. Consil apparently desired to become an apprentice under Capen and was petitioning him to do so in this contract. This brief caption is not the entire three-page agreement, but the specific citations that I found most fascinating.

"Mr. Samuel Capen,

Seeing we have talked so much about the clay, I will make you the following propositions to which you may either give your consent or your final denial.

..I will allow you for every fourteen holes, or you may have the bricks counted and allow me the same or after the bricks are wet and burnt. I will leave it up to me, the men who are good judges of bricks in making how many. I (John Consil) will pay you the sum of 33 cents per thousand bricks.

This agreement with that, I, Samuel Capen, in the town of Dorchester, County of Norfolk, Commonwealth of Massachusetts do agree to sell John Consil a certain amount of clay to make into bricks upon following terms:

I, Samuel Capen do agreen to let John Conssil have clay to dig or make bricks for two seasons at the cost of 100 per season.

I, John Consil do likewise agree to make as many bricks or clay into bricks that the clay I shall have of the said, Samuel Capen shall amount to two hundred dollars at rate of thirty three cents per thousand to one hundred dollars per season.

                                                            Your humble servant, John Consil"

If you do the math - that is roughly 300,00 bricks per season. I am not exactly sure what a season equals in early nineteenth-century Massachusetts - it may be a full calendar year, it may be an end of a growing season in six month cycles or it may be one of the four seasons in three month cycles. Either way - 300,000 bricks produced by an apprentice and not including the actual output of Samuel Capen's company gives an idea of the large demand for bricks of the area.

How many bricks does it take to build a three-floor Federal house? Or even period buildings of a smaller size? The bricks from the Capen business were obviously responsible for a number of buildings that were built inside the early nineteenth-century greater Dorchester area each year. Many of these buildings likely still stand today.

The Dorchester Atheneum in Dorchester, Massachusetts has a large collection of early domestic bricks. Many of the bricks have been associated with brick structures that once stood or still do, in the town - and most bricks have a painting of the house on them that each once belonged to - painted by a number of artists in the early twentieth-century.

The museum description, "this collection (bricks) is important not only as a record of the architectural history of Dorchester but also as an intriguing example of folk art." It is very-well likely that Capen is responsible for the production of some of these bricks inside this 100 piece collection.

Painted Brick from the Revolutionary War Baracks Home, Savin Hil - Dorchester, Ma

Photo Courtesy: Dorchester Atheneum - Dorchester, Ma

For a full listing of the roughly 100 painted bricks - go to this link.

Within Capen's Daybook it reads:

"6, April, 1803 - Mr. Consil began to work for me today and he is to work  all this month and three days he is to work in next month which make 24 days that he has agreed to work for seven dollars.

He has done the work ok - is paid."

The daybook goes far beyond only the sale of bricks - it includes the purchase of household and business expenditures, groceries, tax records, loan records with interest and such.

However, there is no mention of a kiln or earthen ware within the daybook. I read the book cover to cover, the first page thru the last and there was never any mention of an attempt at a utilitarian production, and as far as the book was concerned - Capen never did attempt such an enterprise. I assume there must have been some kind of experimental crossover into earthen ware. Why wouldn't they at least mess around with the idea? The clay source for bricks and what we call today, redware were exactly the same. Who's to say that brickmakers did not experiment with a more refined form within the clay industry? I assume that some earthen ware potters may have made their own bricks - so why could the likewise not happen?

It appears that Capen was a major provider of bricks within the Dorchester area. Could he or someone have possibly produced redware platters within this company? The John Consil contract was signed by: Samuel Capen, Jabez Capen, John Consil and Stephen Hersey. Could any of these four have experimented with utilitarian wares? Were there additional potters who worked at this company over the seventeen-year period of this daybook? There are about a dozen known marbleized redware plates that have a Dorchester attribution and for my own records - I am attempting to identify this potter.

Possibly Dorchester, Ma Redware Loaf Dish

Late 18th to Early 19th Century

Museum of Fine Arts Collection - Boston
(Possibly the Finest Example Known to Exist)

I am in the process of searching for the residence of Daniel Bayley's eighteenth-century daybook from Newburyport, Massachusetts. If anyone knows its whereabouts, I would love to know that information for my studies. I do not believe it is a part of Lura Woodside Watkins collection at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. I do not believe the Olde Newbury Historical Society owns it either. Does it even exist? Maybe it is still out there hidden and left to be discovered - either way, I am in need of it for my studies. If anyone can please help - the book would provide a great deal of important information for my research!

Much more to come... 

19th Century Redware Teapot Found in Rural Maine - Possible Early andImportant Philadelphia, Pa Connection

I revisited my research in Limington Village, Maine over the weekend towards the redware sherds that have appeared in abundance - on a late eighteenth-century property in town. I spent the better part of Saturday at the local library, church and area properties that have yielded a great deal of evidence and information of an early, but possibly undocumented local potter. There will be much more on this to come. I am hoping for a few published articles if all proves true, but in the meantime - the area has provided a second interesting study of a redware maker from outside of the New England region.

After wrapping up my studies for the day, I chose to take advantage of the scenic rural area and pick through the local antique and second hand shops for any potential unidentified early American ceramics. I looked around the Saco River communities and as far east - as Route 1 in Scarborough, Maine.

I did come across a few interesting redware examples that included a nice Virginia mold made by an important known nineteenth-century maker in a yellow glaze with orange halos - but, the most surprising find - was this nineteenth-century teapot hidden in a second-hand vintage shop. It was mixed in amongst a number of turn of the twentieth-century American utilitarian household ceramic wares.

Teapot Found in Southern Maine

19th Century Redware Teapot
Likely an Early American Manufacturer

 Original Lid - Very Nice Form

Redware Body - Unglazed Bottom

Scars From Stacking Devices are Seen

When I first saw the teapot - I immediately thought it was something special. I knew the form was a known nineteenth-century English form, but the English wares are all refined ceramics with a white body. This teapot has a red body and my initial thought was a possible rare example from nineteenth-century Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Let me explain my attribution.

 19th Century English Teapot

Photo Courtesy: Private Collection

 19th Century English Teapot

Photo Courtesy: Private Collection

 19th Century English Teapot

Photo Courtesy: Private Collection

A potter by the name of Andrew Miller is identified in the book, "Handcraft to Industry: Philadelphia Ceramics in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century."

"...Of great importance to the future of the Philadelphia inudstry, however, was the fact that they began the production of black and brown china, a type of tableware that could successfully compete with the imported fine ceramics but require none of the sophistication of their manufacture.

Andrew Miller probably had been among the many Philadelphia potters making the brown-and-black-glazed kitchen and other common household wares that had been a major part of the eighteenth-century potters' output. Sometime between 1808 and 1810, he adapted his traditional materials to the manufacture of a finer product in imitation of English tableware.

Black-glazed china was peculiarly well suited to this industry that was still essentially traditional but was attempting to compete with sophisticated imported products. The local red clay continued to be used, thus avoiding the necessity of locating and learning to work with the light-colored clay used in the manufacture of English refined tableware. The glaze was a standard lead glaze to which manganese was added to produce a dark color.

Though dark-glazed china was introduced to replace the embargoed imported wares, it continued to be made after the end of the war (Revolutionary War). Indeed it remained in regular production at least until mid century." (Handcraft to Industry: Philadelphia Ceramics in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century - Susan H. Myers, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1980, Page 12)

A comparable example of these later nineteenth-century wares in Philadelphia can be seen within the skilled work of the Scottish immigrant potter, Thomas Haig. Haig worked in both redware and stoneware, but for the sake of this study - he is known for making black glazed teapots with a red body - likely imitating the work of English potters.

Thomas Haig Attributed Redware Teapot

Circa 1830-1850

Philadelphia, Pa

Photo Courtesy, Brooklyn Museum - Brooklyn, NY

Production of this described "dark-glazed" china was happening across Federal America in many potter's workshops and kilns. Black glazed wares that mimicked the imported English ceramics were produced in New England, New York, Pennsylvania and related areas. The majority of the produced tablewares were shipped to the major American cities for retail distribution.

For example, the work of Thomas Crafts in Whately, Massachusetts was known for applying an English type of black glaze to his teapots that were exported to Boston, New York City and Philadelphia. The deep black color used in Whately can be compared to the black glazes used on the Jackfield wares of the period in England.

Likely Thomas Crafts Redware Teapot - Whately, Ma

Early 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village, Sturbridge, Ma

I personally do not have an attribution for the teapot I found over the weekend. Fine black glazed wares with a red body were produced all over America in the first half of the nineteenth-century. However, I do feel the teapot I found may likely demonstrate a Philadelphia influence. The Philadelphia area was seen as a place of great innovation during the nineteenth-century - within the field of early ceramic experimentation.

The Maine found teapot is much-more advanced in form when compared to the simpler teapots produced in Massachusetts and New York with no real influence in form - rather only use. With the idea of  the Maine teapot's form likely imitating a known English form - it leads me to believe a Philadelphia attribution may likely be possible. Nineteenth-century Philadelphia is especially known for its advanced attempts at copying or imitating the finer imported English wares - and this teapot could very-well be one of these attempts.

A similar green glazed form was seen as part of National Parks Services Philadelphia Archaeologist, Debbier Miller's presentation of artifacts unearthed at - or nearby Independence Park in Philadelphia at Dish Camp in Eastfield Village, New York earlier his year. That form was attributed to a known Philadelphia potter.

Similar Formed Green Jar in Sherds at Bottom of Photo

Early 19th Century - Philadelphia, Pa

Photo Courtesy: National Parks Service - Philadelphia Archaeological Collection

If you would, take a moment and carefully look at the photo of the teapot. I feel it may be a very important discovery in the field of early American ceramics.

Could this form be a short-lived American experiment? It may very-well be. I have never seen this form with a red body before.

It is in my opinion, that the teapot is certainly nineteenth-century and most-likely an American product. The following photo is a better representation of the actual glaze color than the photos above - which were taken in bright light.

Possibly Philadelphia, Pa Redware Teapot

19th Century

What do you think?  I am highly doubtful this teapot was made by an early New England potter, but I do feel it is American and very-possibly, Philadelphia.

A Quick Tease Ahead: I will be writing about a nineteenth-century Dorchester, Massachusetts brickmakers contract I discovered with my studies at Harvard University's Baker Library. More Charlestown utilitarian wares and plenty more to come...please stay tuned.

Colonial Charlestown, Ma Redware Discovery With an Unmistakable Interior Glaze

My nine-year-old nephew, Jason and myself woke up early yesterday morning for an early start to drive to the Brimfield, Massachusetts flea market and antique shows. We were up by 4:00 am - and walking around Brimfield by 6:00 am.

We looked in every open field and nearly every exhibitor's booth - and beyond a few rare examples of appropriately priced Virgina, New York and Pennsylvania stoneware, we did not see much of anything that peaked our interests. By 11:00 am - all we had purchased was two M&M cookies and a couple Gatorades. Anything that was quality - the dealers knew what they had and the remaining was what I would call - decorative or mass produced imports, but beyond that - nothing was historically important or museum quality. It was a disappointing and some-what frustrating day for myself. However, my nephew did enjoy himself with his first visit to Brimfield.

It appeared this would be the first time in all the years I have been going to Brimfield - that I did not find an important piece of redware. I have found many Beverly, Massachusetts; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Maine, Vermont and related examples, but this was possibly the first day I would come home empty handed.

We left the flea market around 11:00 am. It appeared we were defeated. Pickers are not always going to have their day and this seemed like one of those days. I have had a number of finds recently and I cannot expect to consistently have them day-in and day-out, but as long as I do - I am not going to complain.

On our way home, we stopped at a number of antique and vintage shops along the drive to the Mass Pike through Brimfield and Sturbridge, Massachusetts. There was nothing more than shops selling used twentieth-century glass, "old stuff" and the type of inventory the American Pickers would sell.

As we approached the on-ramp to the Mass Pike, I decided to drive past it and try one more shop. And it was in this shop - that we discovered a very important piece of American history.

"Charlestown (Massachusetts) became an important center for the potter of the eighteenth-century. There is much documentary evidence about them, but not a piece of their pottery. It is almost certain, however, that a great deal of the better-made ware of early type emanated from Charlestown. It was (still under research - however, Wakins suggests otherwise in this article) sold by the boatload along the coast, even (purportedly) in Maine and Connecticut." (Lura Woodside Watkins, The Magazine Antiques - 1957)

The idea of Charlestown redware not existing in 1957 when Lura Woodside Watkins wrote her article for the Magazine Antiques is still in belief today - and I have both proven and will continue to prove this theory wrong. It does exist. The majority was destroyed, but fortunately some intact examples do exist.

Currently, it's near impossible to identify a piece properly, but hopefully my future writing will help readers understand the characteristics and importance of Charlestown's redware production. Very few have researched the Charlestown ceramcs found when the area was excavated for the Central Artery Project in the 1980s and I have been fortunate enough to have studied the remains extensively.

"So little pottery dating from the eighteenth-century is in existence today...The major proportion of utensils made at the Daniel Bayley Pottery (Newburyport, Massachusetts), and probably in other potworks of the period, were undecorated and purely utilitarian.

The lard pot (or dye pot) is a straight-sided, open mouthed jar, including toward the base. It is unglazed outside, but glazed within. On its outer surface it is well smoothed, but the telltale ridges left by the potter's fingers in turning are visible on the interior surface.

Bayley's lard pots (or dye pots) were sometimes lined with coffee-colored glaze, or, quite as often, with greenish - or mottled dark brown.

It would be impossible to distinguish them (Bayley's pots) from similar jars made in any one of a hundred New England potteries." (Lura Woodside Watkins, The Magazine Antiques - 1938)

I completely disagree with Watkins. There were so few eighteenth-century potters that, if studied properly - one can identify lard or dye pots to specific cities, towns and makers of the period in New England. I have studied the utilitarian wares of Charlestown and Newburyport - and Portsmouth, New Hampshire - and each, is unique in form, glaze, production and weight. The eighteenth-century wares were unique when compared to the nineteenth-century. The nineteenth-century utilitarian wares are tough to properly attribute, but I do not feel the earlier ones are that difficult.

"During the early decades of the eighteenth-century, some forty potters were active in the town (Charlstown), and the term Charlestown ware became synonymous with redware. Sad to say None of this great production can be identified with certainty today." (William Ketchum, American Redware - 1991, page 49)

The Charlestown wares can be identified today and if you have not guessed it yet, my nephew and myself discovered an early jar within the antique or vintage shop we last visited.

I hope you can respect my decision to not show you the form publicly, but I will show you the interior glaze. This exact interior glaze is represented in the Charlestown archaeological collection in a similar utilitarian form. The jar we found is in wonderful condition for its age. The only condition issues are the loss to part of the interior glaze due to everyday eighteenth-century use within the kitchen and household.

Charlestown, Ma Utilitarian Redware Jar

Features Unique Butterscotch and Cranberry Interior Glaze

Circa 1740-1780

Found in Sturbridge, Ma

This following jug is a part of the Abington, Massachusetts Historical Society's collection of eighteenth-century John Henry Benner redware. The Benner attribution is debatable. The jug demonstrates a similar exterior glaze. The Charlestown pot and jug are not believed to be related. Lura Woodside Watkins photographed much of Abington's collection for her book, "Early New England Potters and Their Wares." Based on what I have seen in Charlestown and how unexpected the glaze colors are - this jug may have been made by John Henry Benner despite it appearing to be a nineteenth-century form and glaze.

Probably a Massachusetts Made Redware Jug
Possibly John Henry Benner - Abington, Ma

18th or Very Early 19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Abington, Ma Historical Society

I personally don't understand why more collectors are not interested in utilitarian wares. Any such eighteenth-century American wares which were not destroyed are fascinating. Very few examples have survived so it is my belief that any such survivor should be cherished. I enjoy the eighteenth-century utilitarian wares as much as I do the nineteenth-century artistic wares - and in some instances, I prefer the eighteenth-century products.

The forms and glazes are what collectors desire most today, but most of these are nineteenth-century. There doesn't appear to be anywhere near the respect for the eighteenth-century kitchen forms - and with the idea of nearly no eighteeenth-century wares surviving - owning such a piece is much more than a mere example of early redware. It can tell the story of America's struggle for independence, the undertaking it took for a potter to succeed against the superior imported wares and a time in American history that most artifacts today have disappeared. It is my belief that any serious collector should have an example of eighteenth-century redware in their collection. However, there is not likely enough to go around.

Look Ahead: I am off to Brimfield for Day 2 later this morning. I will write a report on the better redware and stoneware examples later this week or next. I also have a lead on a possible eighteenth-century Daniel Bayley lard or dye pot later today that is lacking an attribution. It has a rare green interior glaze. We'll have to wait and see how this turns out.

Much more to come...

Limington Village, Maine Potter Part 3

Limington Village, Me Report 1
Limington Village, Me Report 2

"The town of Limington (Maine) comprises the eastern portion of the lands lying between the Saco and Little Ossipee Rivers...It is bounded on the north by Baldwin, and on the east by Standish, in Cumberland County, the Saco River being the division line, on the south by Hollis and Waterborough, and on the west by Limerick and Cornish." (History of York County Maine - Clayton, 1880)

The areas of Alfred, Buxton, Hollis, Limington, Portland and Yarmouth produced some of the most colorful wares of the nineteenth-century Maine potters. Each was within a 35 mile radius of Limington Village and most within the Saco River region. In general, there is not a lot known of the work produced in these areas. There may be many more small potters' businesses near the Saco River that we have not yet discovered. The operations in Portland and Yarmouth are considered large when compared to Alfred, Buxton, Hollis and Limington. The Saco River likely served as the clay source for many of these potters, but who's to say there were not other sources. The lakes and rivers are extremely abundant in this area of Maine.

The redware milk pan I discovered recently near the New Hampshire seacoast - is very similar to sherds found on Maine antique dealer, Bill Kelly's eighteenth-century Limington Village property. I personally believe the milk pan was made by John Alld in Hollis, but the similarities are very close. Hollis is a neighboring town of Limington and the border is only a matter of miles from the property where all the sherds, kiln furniture and wasters have been found. The property has not been excavated - the redware has merely been discovered through simple gardening and landscaping. A professional excavation may happen in the future.

Redware Milk Pan Sherd - Early 19th Century - Interior of Pan

Similar Greenish Glaze to the Milk Pan

Found on Limington, Village Maine 18th Century Property

Redware Milk Pan Sherd - Early 19th Century - Exterior of Pan

Similar Exterior to the Milk Pan

Found on Limington, Village Maine 18th Century Property

Redware Sherd - Early 19th Century

Demonstrates a Faint Green Spot and Greenish Glaze

Found on Limington Village, Maine 18th Century Property

Likely John Alld Redware Milk Pan - Hollis, Me

Early 19th Century

Found in New Hampshire

Exterior of Milk Pan

Close-Up of Green Dots on Redware Milk Pan

An even more fascinating discovery has been the glaze style demonstrated within this redware sherd - also found on the same Limington Village property.

Redware Sherd - Possibly a Pitcher or Chamber Pot

Early 19th Century

Found on Limington Village, Maine Property

Without getting into the specifics because I would like to save much of this research for a future publication, I will say this glaze style, which demonstrates a separation in the glaze - was more so often associated within the areas of Afred and Yarmouth, Maine than anywhere else in the state. It appears this unknown Limington Village potter may have taken inspiration for their work from many of the nearby potters - seen within both the glazed sherd and possibly the milk pan. Or who knows - maybe the known area potters drew inspiration from Limington? They were all working alongside each other of the same period.

These two jugs are not the best comparison of the work from the Webber family pottery in Alfred, but the first jug does demonstrate a similar glaze to the sherd - without any separation, veining or crawling.

Probably Alfred, Me Redware Jug

19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Tim Gould Auctions - Smithfield, Me

Probably Alfred, Me Redware Jug

19th Century

Photo Courtesy: Skinner Auctions - Boston, Ma

Separation was done intentionally by the potter - which forces the glaze to divide, leaving an under glaze to be seen. The crawling glaze is often a different color or a variation of the original glaze. The use was solely for decorative reasons. It is a technique also seen with New Hampshire and New York potters and occasionally the use of starch is applied to the glaze to cause this decorative affect. Here are examples of New York and New Hampshire glazes with this described "crawling" affect.

Western New York State Redware Jug
Early to Mid 19th Century
Slightly Demonstrates Crawling in the Glaze

Likely Alvin Wilcox Redware Jar - West Bloomfield, NY

Mid 19th Century
Strongly Demonstrates Crawling in the Glaze 

Photo Courtesy: Samuel Herrup Antiques - Sheffield, Ma

Likely New Hampshire Redware Jar 

Early to Mid 19th Century

Strongly Demonstrates Crawling in the Glaze

Photo Courtesy: Samuel Herrup Antiques - Sheffield, Ma

This Limington Village property and nearby homes have proven to be a fascinating study. I am in the midst of working with a group of neighboring homes in an attempt to figure this all out. I will say that we have made a great-deal of progress with the sherds and a signed jug. At this point, we have a very-good understanding of who this unknown potter may have been.

There will be much more on this subject to come. I am working on publishing an article in the near future with information surrounding an important jug at the very-least.

Much more to come..and a quick tease looking ahead - I will be visiting Brimfield, Massachusetts early tomorrow morning with my nephew for some picking.