A New Black Glazed 19th Century Red Earthenware Pot Found in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont

After a long week at work, I came home to my house in Newburyport, Massachusetts tonight to see a box waiting for me on my front deck that I had completely forgotten was scheduled to arrive today. It was a nice surprise! Safely wrapped inside of the box sat a black glazed nineteenth-century red earthenware pot. I had initially felt the pot was a certain form and weight,  but when I picked the box up - I was surprised with how much it weighed. This is an example of how photos can be deceiving. I was actually encouraged by the weight of the box because I knew it wasn't what I had expected it to be; I felt it was now going to be better than expected!

My Front Porch and a Package that Awaited Me When I Got Home From Work Tonight

This was actually a bargain of a buy that I found online last week that was reportedly found in a house in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont. Traditionally, this type of squared-off top is attributed to the Chesham region in southwestern New Hampshire and sometimes in the central part of the state in Concord and Lyndeboro; however, I believe this pot was likely manufactured in Vermont. Tops like this have been attributed to the potters that worked in Middlebury, Vermont - and very possibly elsewhere in the state. The glaze and clay color do not really relate to what I have come to know as New Hampshire products - so that is a main reason why I believe this pot was made in Vermont. Another reason I believe this pot was made in Vermont is from the green dots seen on the interior of the pot; these dots were very-likely caused from iron impurities in the clay. Clays with an abundance of iron are seen in many parts of New England; however, it is arguably most predominately seen with products made in southern Maine, but I have also seen it in Vermont.

Vermont is a state that was predominantly dominated by stoneware manufacturers in the nineteenth-century - and with that said and a general understanding, any type of Vermont-made early red earthenware is considered rare today. The Farrar family that worked in Middlebury is arguably the most accomplished red earthenware potters in the state; although they were not the only. There were a handful of small businesses that produced red earthenware products like this in a number of locations in the state. A number of these potters could really use a good in-depth study to define their work; their's still so-much to be learned about this area.

Just for fun - I have posted a couple of pictures of my two-year-old niece, Alexis with the pot - and below that - are a group of photos that only show the pot.

 My 2-Year-Old Niece, Alexis with the Black Glazed Red Earthenware Pot

My 2-Year-Old Niece, Alexis with the Black Glazed Red Earthenware Pot

 19th Century Black Glazed Red Earthenware Pot Possibly Made in Vermont

Ca. Before 1840

Found in a House in Saint Johnsbury, Vt

Stands 8 7/8" Tall

 View of the Interior

Notice the Green Dots on the Interior Likely Caused from Iron in the Clay
The Interior Color is Actually a Lot Darker in Person

View of the Base

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

The Crafts Stoneware Pottery of Nashua, New Hampshire and Related Cobalt Blue Decoration Seen in Vermont and New York

The potter, Martin Crafts from the Crafts family name fame in the nineteenth-century, operated a stoneware business in Nashua, New Hampshire in the 1840's and the early 1850's. Stoneware from this business is considered rare today by New England stoneware collectors and aficionados. According to an article written by F.H. Norton (The Crafts Pottery in Nashua, New Hampshire), "It is well known that the Crafts Pottery operated a pottery in Whately, Massachusetts. Information concerning another pottery run by the same family in Nashua, New Hampshire is, on the contrary, less easily available...The pottery of Martin Crafts was located on the eastern side of Main Street, north of the Acton Railroad, and Crafts lived in a cottage in that location. Crafts began his work in 1838 and he brought his clay from Boston by boat...We know very little about the technical details of the pottery. There is no reason, however, to believe that the ware was unlike that of other potteries. The clay may have been used raw or washed. Probably only one kiln was needed, and three or four wheels. Apparently all the ware was thrown on the wheel and salt glazed. The type of ware made is known to include various sizes of jugs and jars, of which the former are much the more plentiful. A few have blue decorations, but generally they are plain. Although it is also believed inkwells were made, but no known marked examples are known today."

 Martin Crafts Pottery Stoneware Jug with Blue Decoration - Nashua, NH

Ca. 1838-1851 (Likely Made in the 1840's)
Found in a House in Laconia, NH Last Year

Close Up of the Martin Crafts Mark

Martin Crafts Pottery Stoneware Crock with Blue Decoration - Nashua, NH

Ca. 1838-1851 (Likely Made in the 1840's)

This Crock was Recently Discovered by a Person Who Cleans Out Homes in Essex County, Mass.

The Crock is Currently for Sale - Price Tag is Seen on the Crock

There is a Large Crack on the Back and One of the Handles is Missing

If Interested: Inquire at the Shop Cited Below

Photo Courtesy: The White Elephant - Essex, Ma

There are two angles I would like to discuss in this report about this business; the first subject being ovoid stoneware jugs that are sometimes seen in the marketplace marked, T. Crafts & Co. Thomas Crafts was Martin Crafts father - and he was an overly successful potter who worked in Whately, Massachusetts producing stoneware and red earthenware. According to F.H. Norton, "Since there were only a few stoneware potteries operating in New England in the first half of the nineteenth-century, the Whately stoneware was retailed over a wide area - and a regular trade was carried on with Nashua, New Hampshire."

Not only have I been taught by experienced and scholarly stoneware collectors that the jugs mentioned above marked, T. Crafts & Co. are actually products sold out of Nashua - but I have also found out through my own involvement that many of these marked crocks are found in New Hampshire today; although that's my experience at the least. I have seen a small handful of these types of jugs appear at on-site auctions and estate sales throughout the southern and central parts of the state in recent years.

 T. Crafts & Co. 1 Gallon Stoneware Ovoid Jug - Likely Nashua, NH

Ca. 1840s

Found a Couple Years Ago in Exeter, NH

T. Crafts & Co. Mark

I assume that many people reading this may recall the idea of a "traveling potter" mentioned in my previous writing - and if not through my writing, you may have heard of the idea elsewhere. It was not uncommon for potters to travel from business-to-business in the nineteenth-century; however, a traveling decorator is something I had never heard of until a friend of mine, who is a retired Portsmouth, New Hampshire firefighter brought the idea to light.

I was handed a handful of information this past summer that pretty-much documented identical hand-drawn cobalt blue decorations applied by hand in Nashua, New Hampshire, Cortland, New York and Burlington, Vermont. I don't believe this is the result of Martin Crafts traveling to these locations - so I am very curious to know if this was the result of a traveling potter or possibly a traveling decorator. Interestingly, the estimated range of production dates for each of these pieces successively transitions accordingly from New Hampshire to New York and then finally in Vermont. A traveling decorator would not be completely unheard of - even though a traveling potter is more common. What do you think? I wonder who is responsible!

 Martin Crafts Pottery Stoneware Jug with Blue Flower Design - Nashua, NH

Ca. 1840's

Madison Woodruff Stoneware Jug with Blue Flower Design - Cortland, NY

Ca. 1850

 Ballard Brothers Stoneware Jug with Blue Flower Design - Burlington, Vt

Ca. 1856-1872

All Three Blue Flower Designs Together

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

The Bidwell House Museum in Monterey, Massachusetts - and a Wonderful Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Lidded Pot

Nestled in the hills of western Massachusetts, rests a relatively unknown gem of a museum known as the Bidwell House. The museum is hidden in Monterey, Massachusetts quietly planted between mature English-style gardens and remotely placed in the middle of the area's woodlands. I visited this eighteenth-century saltbox museum earlier this year to see its collection of early American utilitarian pottery - and outside of being impressed - I was rather surprised and intrigued by one particular slip decorated lidded pot.

The Bidwell House can be described as, "off the beaten path"; I drove west along the Mass Pike for roughly two (almost three) hours from my house on coastal Massachusetts before veering off the highway near Lee, Massachusetts and taking a number of back roads that eventually brought me to a long dirt driveway that led to the museum. The driveway probably extended for a few hundred yards before I arrived at the parking lot. Beautiful perennial and annual gardens terraced down towards me as I parked and stepped out of my Jeep onto the green grass. I was met by a stone walkway with stone steps that brought me up a hill towards a porch, where a museum tour guide and expert led me into the Bidwell House and all of the secret treasures it held.

The house was built in 1760 for the Reverend Adonijah Bidwell, who served the region's religious needs for many years around the American Revolution . The area later divided into Monterey and Tyringham, Massachusetts. The spectacular furnishings found inside this dignified home were mostly collected by Jack Hargis and David Brush; two men who purchased the property in 1960. From my understanding, they mostly collected New England antiques over the next three decades that were purchased privately from dealers, antique shops and antique shows throughout New England. 

In 1990, Hargis and Brush donated the Bidwell House property and all of the decorative arts they had collected preserving what was their passion into the museum that is seen by a countless number of visitors today.

I was really surprised to see the range of New England-made red earthenware upon immediately entering the home. The first room I entered reminded me of a meeting quarters. It appeared to be the largest room in the house that all the other rooms on the first floor were connected to; it appeared to be the central room. I could clearly see rare forms and glazes applied by potters in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. My favorite was probably an impressive collection of red earthenware found inside a small eighteenth-century cupboard (possibly made nearby in Deerfield, Massachusetts) that included nineteenth-century wares made at the Safford Pottery in Monmouth, Maine and also a collection of colorful nineteenth-century stew pots from the Corliss Pottery made in the Days Ferry neighborhood in Woolwich, Maine.

I was very fortunate to have received a private guided tour from the museum that brought me upstairs into the storage facility, which housed additional examples of utilitarian pottery. This was also where the museum offices were found. As soon as I entered the storage area (which I would describe as an attic-type atmosphere), I was quite surprised to see a colorful painted red earthenware jar that was undoubtedly made at Charles A. Lawrence's business in Beverly, Massachusetts in the 1870's. I have only seen about a half-dozen products with this style from Beverly thus far. I asked the museum guide where the jar was acquired and she told me it was likely purchased locally in New England; however she wasn't sure if it came from a private sale, a shop or an antique show. As we continued deeper into the storage collection, I saw an incredible green glazed red earthenware lidded storage jar likely made in southeastern Massachusetts around the turn of the nineteenth-century. There was actually quite a few examples of coastal Massachusetts red earthenware and additionally, there was also pottery from Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

A pot that really stood out to me above everything else was a covered handled pot with splashed slip decoration; a newer piece of paper was stuck to it that read, "North Carolina." While I am not a hundred percent sure how this attribution was developed - it dawned on me last week that the decoration on this pot is very similar to a large eighteenth-century pitcher I purchased a few years ago in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The decoration on the lidded pot and the pitcher seem similar, but even more importantly, they both seem very similar to a chamber pot that was uncovered from a privy (trash pit) at the Narbonne House in Salem, Massachusetts inside a (circa) 1770 archaeological context. 

The Narbonne House was built as a middle-class occupancy in the seventeenth-century on Salem's waterfront. It remained a middle-class occupancy into the twentieth-century before it was shuffled from a residence into a historic site that is now owned by the National Parks Services. 

I have personally seen many of the artifacts recovered at this site and most of the recovered red earthenware (if not all of it) was likely made locally in Essex County, Massachusetts. Based on this information, I also believe the chamber pot with the similar splattered decoration was also made in Essex County. With this idea, I wondered last week if the lidded pot from the Bidwell House could be related to the pitcher and the chamber pot. All three glazes seem similar. I think it's an interesting subject to bring up. 

For now, I will show you the three pieces below - and you can make your own interpretation based on the information I have provided above and how these pieces appear below.

 18th/19th Century Red Earthenware Lidded Pot with Splattered Slip Decoration

Origin Not Completely Known - Suggested to Have Been Made in North Carolina

Slip Decoration is Similar to a Sherd Found at the Narbonne House in Salem, Ma

Photo Courtesy: Bidwell House Museum - Monterey, Ma

View of the Lid and the Splattered Slip Decoration

Photo Courtesy: Bidwell House Museum - Monterey, Ma

(Left) Chamber Pot Recovered at the Narbonne House in Salem, Ma
Similar Splashed Slip Technique to the Products Seen in this Report
Ca. 1770 Archaeological Context
Photo Courtesy: National Parks Services Narbonne House Archaeological Report - Salem, Ma

18th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher with Splattered Slip Decoration

Purchased a Few Years Ago in Cambridge, Ma
Stands 13 1/4" Tall

Slip Decoration is Similar to a Sherd Found at the Narbonne House in Salem, Ma

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

A Group of Red Earthenware Discoveries Made Yesterday in Central and Western New Hampshire

"Fat lamps are now comparatively rare, but in their day, they were probably rather common. They were fashioned by local potters who made a business of supplying household utensils of whatever clay was available. Red burning clay was the material most often used, but lamps were also made of stoneware. Most surviving specimens date from the first half of the nineteenth century...Almost all the lamps of this type have been found in areas of German settlement, principally in Pennsylvania and Ohio, among the Moravians in North Carolina, and to some extent at a late period in Tennessee. It is even more than probable that all American pottery lamps, even when made by potters of British descent, originated among the German settlers. This theory is bolstered by the fact that no pottery lamps of any kind were made by the hundreds of clay workers of English descent (according to the author) in New England." (Lura Woodside Watkins, American Pottery Lamps, The Magazine Antiques)

Yesterday, I went out picking in central and western New Hampshire - and I happened to have found a red earthenware lamp like that which is discussed above. I was told it was recently removed from a house in the area. What's really interesting about this piece past its survival and use, is the partial remains of a museum tag that is stuck to the base. Unfortunately, no one could provide me with any information about the museum in the shop. It is definitely a rare form! I have no specific attribution because these types of lamps are so rare today. It's definitely a good find - and the only form of this use that is in my collection today.

I believe the jug part of the lamp would have been filled with oil or a fatty substance and the opening at the end of the spout would have been where the flame would have burned.

 18th/19th Century Red Earthenware Lamp

Place of Manufacture Not Entirely Known

Found Yesterday in Central-Western New Hampshire

Stands 4 1/8" Tall

Measures 6 1/4" Long

View of the Base with Partial Remains of a Museum Tag

As I continued picking yesterday, I came across a few more interesting discoveries, all of which were found in vintage-type shops. They were not found exclusively in antique stores.

This here is a nicely thrown red earthenware jug likely made in Maine in the nineteenth-century with a second layer of dripping glaze that was spread across the top of the jug.  The second layer shows a cream-colored glaze, which then had manganese splashed on top of that. The glaze kind of reminds me of the style and colors sometimes used at the Corliss Pottery in the Days Ferry neighborhood of Woolwich, Maine, which was located on the Maine seacoast near Bath and Wiscassest. However, the handle is not a common style usually seen from the Corliss Pottery; although this jug may have still been made in that area by another potter who was influenced by the Corliss Pottery glazes. There a small handful of possibilities to where this jug was possibly made.

 Likely Maine-Made Red Earthenware Jug with Colorful Multi-Colored Glaze

Ca. 1820-1860

Found Yesterday in Central-Western New Hampshire

Stands 7 1/2" Tall

 Another View of the Glaze

View of the Handle

The rest of of my finds included this small bowl and a small pitcher or creamer. The bowl appears like it could be a product that was made in the Mid-Atlantic region in the nineteenth-century. Traditionally, that's where a lot of the smaller or miniature forms are attributed to today, but there were also a handful made in other areas like western New York. The orange-colored glaze on this bowl is attractive. Overall, the bowl was very skillfully thrown. When I found it yesterday, it was covered in a black sticky substance with paint placed on top of that. Some of the residue can still be seen in the pictures below.

 Small 19th Century Red Earthenware Bowl

Likely Manufactured in Pennsylvania

Found Yesterday in Central New Hampshire

Stands 1 1/8" Tall

Measures 3 1/2" Wide at Top

View of the Base

This pitcher or creamer definitely dates from the nineteenth-century; it was sold to me as a product made by the Medinger family of potters in Pennsylvania; however I am not so sure about that attribution. The dealer told me he found it in central New Hampshire and a friend of his told him that it may be a product made at the Medinger Pottery in Montgomery County in Pennsylvnia; although I think it could also be a New England-made piece, too. It's a rare size and wonderfully made form.

19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher or Creamer

Likely Made in Either Pennsylvania or New England

Found Yesterday in Central New Hampshire

Stands 3 3/8" Tall

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

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Inkwell Waster Recovered in Buxton, Maine

I wrote a few week's ago that, "There are many mysteries that surround the nineteenth-century red earthenware potters in Maine - my conundrum would begin with who all the potters actually were beyond what we know today; however, beyond that, what products and forms were made where - and how that would effect the current legacies of potters and what we think we know today. I firmly believe there is a lot left to be learned about this area."

Southern Maine collector, researcher and cabinet-maker, Rick Poore recently contacted me to show me a wonderful artifact that he just pulled from the Bickford Pottery trash pile in Buxton, Maine, circa 1825-1880.

What I mean by the word "trash" is this is the area, where all of the kiln waste was deposited; everything from bricks, broken pots, kiln furniture and whatever else came out of the kiln that was not useful. This is an amazing site that is privately owned today; whereas, the location remains a secret until the property owners and the State of Maine determine how they want to proceed with the site.

Nonetheless, this is an incredible black-glazed red earthenware inkwell, which I presume dates from the early-to-mid-nineteenth century that was made at the Bickford Pottery. I have visited this site on a few occasions and I feel this site can really contribute extensively to what is known about the nineteenth century southern Maine potter's industry today.

Inkwell Waster Recovered in Buxton, Maine

19th Century Red Earthenware Inkwell Waster
Recovered at the Site of the Bickford Pottery in Buxton, ME
Circa 1825-1880
See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Rick Poore - Southern Maine

Another View of the Waster

Photo Courtesy: Rick Poore - Southern Maine

 Another View of the Waster

Photo Courtesy: Rick Poore - Southern Maine

 Another View of the Waster

Photo Courtesy: Rick Poore - Southern Maine

Please Stay Tuned…Much More to Come...

My Account of Quite a Few Very Interesting Discoveries in Merrimacport, Massachusetts Today

The potter, William Pecker (active ca. 1784-1820) is regarded as, "one of New England's earliest and most talented potters" according to an article written for the 2004 edition of Ceramics in America. The article continues to say, "the discovery of a marked Pecker stoneware jar at a Kentucky flea market is surprising given that Pecker is best known for his redware vessels he produced as early as 1784 in West Amesbury (today known as Merrimacport), Massachusetts. In fact, the book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares by Lura Woodside Watkins focuses solely on Pecker's redware production without a mention of any stoneware manufacture."

This morning, I visited the area that I believe William Pecker operated multiple kilns for red earthenware and stoneware production in Merrimacport. I timed my visit precisely with this morning's low tide - and I also left enough time so I could explore the entire area, but also attend a Nan Gurley Antique Show in Portsmouth, New Hampshire that began at 10:00 am. I have really studied this area quite extensively over the past six months and I feel that Pecker likely dumped quite a bit of his kiln waste directly into the Merrimac River - thus why I have such an interest in the tides. If timed perfectly (given the tide and a coastal storm), a great amount of Pecker's stoneware production can be found on the shore of the Merrimac River, which Pecker worked and lived alongside in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries.

 The Shore of the Merrimac River in Merrimacport, Ma

 The Shore of the Merrimac River in Merrimacport, Ma

 The Shore of the Merrimac River in Merrimacport, Ma

The Shore of the Merrimac River in Merrimacport, Ma

Previously, I have found hundreds of stoneware sherds, dozens of examples of kiln furniture and recently, stoneware bricks likely from the kiln. It seems like the glaze techniques Pecker used were taken from German and English products for inspiration. I have discovered brown glazed products, but also salt glazed wares. I have also found incised sherds (lines and birds) and plenty of cobalt (blue) decoration. It also appears that his forms varied; what I mean by that is he didn't stick to a single form of jug or crock; he incorporated different styles into his production.

Today was no different than any other visit - I found many sherds and examples of kiln furniture likely related to Pecker's stoneware and red earthenware production. Something I would like to point out is that I've heard collectors often say that a potter produced a certain form or a certain thickness or refined type of product; it's my belief this is false information. I have visited a number of potters sites in New England - and in all the sites that a significant amount of artifacts could be recovered at - I found that styles always varied. The handles were not always the same, the footed bases often varied in form/style and the shapes varied. It's my belief that potters were not a machine - their styles changed. For example, at the Pecker site I have found that Pecker's business produced a rounded footed base, a flat footed base and a sharply cut off base; currently, Pecker usually only gets credit for a sharply cut off base. I also believe that you have to think creatively when it comes to glazes - most people know Pecker today for his pumpkin orange glazes; however, sherds have taught me that Pecker worked with raspberry glazes, black glazes, green glazes, brown glazes and plenty more. I don't think a potter can be defined as a potter who made crude products or a potter who made refined products or a potter who used a specific glaze; I think a potter typically produced their products with the idea of how it would be used. A potter may be labeled today as a potter who made thickly potted products; although that doesn't mean they didn't make or even couldn't make a refined product. If that were the case, they probably wouldn't be a very good potter and most the potters known today worked for decades, which indicates to me that their products were good enough that there was a constant demand; that also suggests to me that beyond the demand, their skill is what kept them in business for so long. No matter the industry, a poor product or an unskilled company doesn't usually last. Simply put, I don't think any potter can be categorized for only manufacturing a single type of product.

Here are two sherds that I collected from the Pecker site today that show the differences in product style; the sherd on the left is from a thickly potted crock while the sherd on the right is from a more refined jug. Isn't it interesting to see this?! These are both Pecker Pottery products.

A Comparison of a Thickly Potted and a Thinly Potted Product from the Same Business

Both Found Today in Merrimacport, Ma

With all that said, here are some of the interesting finds I made today.

I walked a few hundred yards, maybe a little bit more away from the area that I believe Pecker worked; I walked west upriver towards Haverhill, Massachusetts basically out of mere curiosity to see what I may find. I was quite surprised to see a section at the base of a hill that met the shoreline,  which appeared like it had been dug into. As I walked towards it, I could clearly see that this was an obvious clay source, possibly harvested by one of the businesses that worked in Merrimacport. If you notice, the clay color is a grayish-blue, which is the proper colored clay used for red earthenware production in many parts of New England. I easily rolled a clay ball (see below) for reference. It has actually hardened since into somewhat of a soft clay marble.

 A Hill that Had Been Cut into Along the Merrimac River in Merrimacport, Ma

 A Closer Look at the Hill

 Grayish-Blue Clay that has Been Exposed Used for Red Earthenware Production

 Grayish-Blue Clay that has Been Exposed Used for Red Earthenware Production

 A Ball of Clay that I Easily Put Together

Grayish-Blue Clay that has Been Exposed Used for Red Earthenware Production

This is a rather interesting piece I also discovered today; I think it may be part of stoneware saggar, which was a container (saggar) used to minimize any damage that could occur to a vessel during a firing.

 Likely Part of a Stoneware Saggar Found in Merrimacport, Ma Today

Another View of the Possible Saggar

I also found another example of what I believe to be a brick from Pecker's stoneware kiln; it appears to have an ash salt glaze on part of it. This type of brick is rare in New England - especially for bricks that were used around the turn of the nineteenth-century. Most New England bricks are the red brick-type that is usually seen. The type of brick seen below would have allowed Pecker to fire stoneware at a much higher temperature. The local clays (seen above) could not sustain proper temperatures that were required to properly fire stoneware at temperatures that usually exceeded 2,000 degrees. At that temperature, the bricks made from local clays would melt or possibly burn. Stoneware production demands a special clay that is not native in Merrimacport - so Pecker likely had to have this type of clay imported from elsewhere (possibly outside of New England). The local clays in Merrimacport were suitable for red earthenware production that required cooler temperatures when compared to stoneware.

 Likely a Stoneware Brick Used in a Kiln in Merrimacport, Ma

Notice the Ash Salt Glaze on the Front of it

Another View of the Stoneware Brick

This is another example of the stoneware kiln remains that I have found. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it looks like kiln waste attached to the remains of a kiln brick.

 Possibly a Stoneware Kiln Brick

Possibly a Stoneware Kiln Brick

Sewer tile on the shore of the Merrimac River is nothing new to me. I can find it all-over the river from Haverhill to Newburyport; however I have never seen a signed piece before. This piece was found alongside all the stoneware and red earthenware and truthfully, this was the only sherd I found in this area that wasn't directly associated with the production in Merrimacport. The only question I would ask; was there a period in the late-nineteenth-century where sewer tile was sold in Merrimacport? All that is left of the stamp is ER PIPE CO N.

 Collection of Stoneware Artifacts Found in Merrimacport, Ma Today

 Brown Glazed Sewer Tile Found Today

Written on the Sewer Tile Sherd is ER PIPE CO N

This is a simple example of the amount of glaze colors that I have found; this is just what I pulled out of the bag from today. There's quite a range - and if I were to go through the bags of red earthenware sherds I have collected over the past six months - the color palette would show a broad amount of colors.

A Sample of the Glazes Found Today in Merrimacport, Ma

This is rather interesting! It's the largest brick I have ever seen! I would guess and say it had some kind of kiln use, but beyond that would only be a guess. Take a look a look at this! Any ideas what it is?

 Huge Brick Measures 7" by 7"

Huge Brick Stands 1 3/4" Tall

Finally, I want to show this picture of construction that is happening near all the potter's sites in Merrimacport. It all appears to be undeveloped land, but you can only imagine my thoughts when I drove past it today. What could they have exposed? I honestly don't think anything is there, but there's always the chance of something emerging from beneath the ground!

Construction Happening in Merrimacport, Ma

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