A Group of Objects Acquired Last Weekend in New Hampshire

Last weekend, was a good time picking in New Hampshire - and, today, I would like to show the rest of my finds that I mentioned in last night's article. The three following objects definitely represent three-different areas of the nineteenth and early-twentieth-century American potter's industry.

Colorful New Hampshire Red Earthenware Jug

Yesterday, I acquired this jug, from a friend, but it was actually purchased from longtime New Hampshire antiques dealer, Richard White at the Milford, New Hampshire Antiques Show a few weeks ago.

It was suggested that this jug may have been manufactured in southern Maine; however, I actually feel that it was instead made somewhere near the New Hampshire seacoast. It appears like a product that could have been made in Exeter, New Hampshire - or, possibly one of the businesses located in Rochester, New Hampshire, Gonic, New Hampshire or Dover, New Hampshire. Never-the-less, it's a nicely shaped jug with an attractive glaze from the circa 1820-1860 period.

 19th Century Ovoid Red Earthenware Jug Probably Made in New Hampshire

Possibly Made Near Exeter, NH or Rochester, NH

Recently Acquired from a New Hampshire Antiques Dealer

Circa 1820-1860

Stands 9 1/8" Tall

 Another View of the Jug

 View of the Handle

 View of the Base

William Grueby Pottery Earthenware Vase

This wonderful earthenware vase was also acquired from Richard White - I purchased it from him yesterday at the weekly Milford, New Hampshire Antiques Show. It was made in South Boston, Massachusetts at the William Grueby (1867-1925) Faience Company between 1897 and 1909. The base is stamped with the traditional Grueby Pottery mark. I've always wanted to own an example of Grueby's art pottery; however, I've never really wanted to pay the thousands-of-dollars that Grueby Pottery often costs today. Instead, I've reamined hopeful that I would be able to pick a piece - and, that's what happened yesterday. I purchased this vase for a very-good price.

According to 'Yankee Magazine,' "The story of this pottery company begins at the height of the American Arts & Crafts movement, where ceramist, William H. Grueby attended the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago (Illinois). There he admired the new matte-glazed wares of French art potters. After returning home to Boston, he worked nearly five-years experimenting and perfecting his own matte glaze for the tile and architectural ceramics he was designing. In 1897 he founded the Grueby Faience Company, and a year later, introduced his matte-glazed vases, bud bowls, jardinieres, and other plant wares.

Grueby's work found popular and critical acclaim worldwide. His innovative style attracted the interest of fellow Arts & Crafts icons, including Louis Comfort Tiffany, who paired stained-glassed lampshades with Grueby pottery bases, and Gustav Stickley, who displayed Grueby wares alongside his furniture. Grueby's success, however, though brilliant, was short-lived. Hundreds of potters produced lower-priced, inferior copies of the Grueby look. Crippled by the competition and the public's waning interest in the Arts & Crafts style, Grueby Faience declared bankruptcy in 1909 and produced only architectural tiles until 1920."

 Late-19th or Early-20th Century William Grueby Faience Company Earthenware Vase

Acquired in Milford, NH Yesterday

Circa 1897-1909

Stands 6 1/2" Tall

 Another View of the Vase

 Another View of the Vase

Stahl Pottery Red Earthenware Bowl

According to the website, Philly.com, "The Stahl family pottery in Pennsylvania was established in 1847 by Charles Ludwig Stahl, who for 49 years ran the complex with three of his nine children: James, Thomas and Isaac. The Pottery closed in 1902 but was reopened in 1932 by Thomas and Isaac Stahl after they learned that pieces they had sold in 1898 for six or eight cents had gone to auction to collectors for $2.50 and $4.

Thomas Stahl died in 1942 and Isaac in 1950. Isaac's son, Russell, a steelworker, carried on the business part-time for several years after his father died, firing the last kiln in the mid-1950's. That kiln was reopened in 1976 by Russell and a grandnephew, Dennis. They sold the contents of the kiln and then began glazing some of the hundreds of unfinished pieces left in the pottery. They filled the kiln, again, but never got around to firing it."

Yesterday, I acquired an example of Stahl Pottery made after the kiln was reopened in 1932. On the back of this large bowl is the inscription, 'Made by I.S. Stahl, Sept. 1938, S.P.' The 'I.S.' stands for Isaac Stahl and the 'S.P.' represents Stahl Pottery.

 20th Century Red Earthenware Bowl 

Made by Isaac Stahl at the Stahl Pottery in Pennsylvania

Back is Inscribed 'Made by I.S. Stahl, Sept. 1938, S.P.'

Circa 1938

Stands 2" Tall

Measures 8 3/4" in Diameter

 Another View of the Bowl

View of the Back

Inscribed 'Made by I.S. Stahl, Sept. 1938, S.P.'

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

A Newly Acquired 19th Century Canadian-Made Red Earthenware Jug

This week, I wil be writing about a number of freshly picked items that I acquired for my private collection this weekend - I will also be writing about some exciting new eighteenth-century sherds that have just been discovered in various contexts in New England.

Tonight, I want to quickly show this nineteenth-century pumpkin-colored glazed hand-thrown red earthenware jug that was recently acquired from a longtime antique bottle and glass collector in New Hampshire. I believe this jug was made in Ontario during the second-half of the nineteenth-century. The form of the jug corresponds with what was happening with similar forms in the American and Canadian stoneware industries during the same period.

 Late-19th Century Red Earthenware Jug Likely Made in Ontario, Canada

Recently Acquired from a Private Collection in New Hampshire

Circa 1860-1890

Stands 10 3/4" Tall

 Another View of the Jug

 Another View of the Jug

 View of the Handle

View of the Base

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

A Rare 19th Century Connecticut-Made Red Earthenware Money Box with a Wonderful Inscription

According to an article, 'A Hole in One? or In Search of Piggy Banks and Christmas Boxes,' which was written by Ivor Noel Hume, "In England, ceramic containers for saved coins have long been known as 'money boxes' or 'Christmas boxes,' whereas in America they are called piggy banks. The latter term (piggy bank) is included in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary but, surprisingly, cites that it is first used in 1941."

Presumably, then, some/many/all eighteenth and nineteenth century American (and Canadian) red earthenware and stoneware potters must have been using similar terminology for the banks they produced. Although, I was recently surprised when a New Hampshire collector contacted me with an unusual tree trunk-formed painted red earthenware 'bank' or 'money box' that was made at the Goodwin Brothers Pottery in West Hartford, Connecticut after 1870.

The West Hartford Historical Society briefly sums up the significance of the Goodwin family today: "Early on, grist saw, and carding mills along with blacksmith shops, tanneries and general stores emerged around the (West Hartford) community to support and help drive agriculture. One of the first major industries to arise centered on the pottery and brick works. Extending from Hartford to Berlin is a sizable deposit of fine clay. In 1770, Ebenezer Faxon came from Massachusetts and settled in what would become the Elmwood section of West Hartford. There he established a pottery on South Road (what is today New Britain Avenue) which took advantage of the local geographical landscape. It was Seth Goodwin, however, who helped to establish a pottery dynasty. Goodwin started his pottery works around 1798. For over a hundred years, the Goodwin name would be associated with West Hartford Pottery. Producing utilitarian items such as jugs for the gin manufactured in local distilleries, to terra cotta designs and fine china, the Goodwin Company employed up to 75 people in its heyday. The Goodwin Brothers Pottery Company (as it came to be known) burned for the third time in 1908 and never recovered."

According to Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potter's and Their Wares), "Seth Goodwin's nephew, Harvey Goodwin, born in 1802, (also) became a potter. His first venture was in (nearby) Torrington, Connecticut (possibly Goshen), where he lived for four years. Returning to West Hartford, he worked for his uncle until 1832 (producing redware), then started an enterprise of his own. This pottery ran until 1870 under his management and was carried on in its later days by his sons Harvey Burdett Goodwin and Wilbur Elmore Goodwin as 'Goodwin Bros.' Their shop stood on the south side of New Britain Avenue just east of the railroad tracks (in West Hartford)."

It is inscribed on the base of this painted tree-trunk formed object, "Money Box / Made By The / Goodwin Bros / Elmwood, Conn." This bank must serve as actual proof that the term 'money box' was regularly used by American (and Canadian) utilitarian potters before 1941, as opposed to the terminology that Ivor Noel Hume's cites, which was not regularly used until 1941 according to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary.

Rare Goodwin Brothers Pottery Bank from Connecticut

19th Century Tree Trunk Formed Painted Red Earthenware Money Box

Made at the Goodwin Bros. Pottery - West Hartford, CT

Base Inscribed 'Money Box / Made By The / Goodwin Bros / Elmwood, Conn'

Stands Approximately 5" Tall

Circa 1870-1908
See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private New Hampshire Collection

View of the Base

Inscribed 'Money Box / Made By The / Goodwin Bros / Elmwood, Conn'

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private New Hampshire Collection

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

A Rare Early-19th Century Slip Decorated Philadelphia-Made Red Earthenware Charger that is Scheduled to Sell Today in Quarryville, Pennsylvania

Later today, a rare example of late-eighteenth or early-nineteenth-century slip decorated Philadelphia-made red earthenware is scheduled to sell at the Pennsylvania Auction Center in Quarryville, Pennsylvania. I had actually planned on bidding by telephone on this press-molded object, but since I can not attend the auction, in-person, I have decided not to participate. I assume this charger is going to command a decent price, too - and, in consideration, I would rather inspect this object in-hand instead of only bidding based on internet photography.

This object is advertised as a "rare Philadelphia redware charger measuring 13 1/2 inches in diameter with no repairs from the circa 1825-1830 period." Although, I will suggest that this charger could date from an earlier period, as well.

In my opinion, slip decorated Philadelphia-made red earthenware plates, chargers and platters are among the best known forms of decorated flatware made in America in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries.

There are some questions that may arise from the photographs shown below - there seems to be some kind of substance that covers part of the charger; however, the auctioneer told me on the phone yesterday that there is no restoration. Instead, it is possible that there may be some staining, but I can not be sure of that, either.

The auctioneer also told me yesterday that I was the first person to inquire about the charger by phone. He said there are currently no phone bids setup for this item, and they do not use internet bidding. They are an Amish auction house. The auctioneer said, "Typically, what is sold goes to the highest bidder in the auction hall."

This was also not a heavily advertised sale. I believe it only received attention through Auction Zip and maybe some local advertising. Ultimately, this could be a fantastic opportunity to acquire a rare example of Philadelphia-made pottery that may not sell for as much as it would in a higher-profile setting

Note: Related slip decorated red earthenware sherds have been recovered in numerous archaeological contexts in Philadelphia; although, this type of product was also exported. Similar sherds have also been recovered in such places as New York City, New Jersey and Albany, New York; all of these contexts vary from the late-eighteenth to the early-nineteenth-centuries.

For Reference: I have also shown a complementary charger that is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, which is also attributed to Philadelphia. The big difference between the two objects is the manner of the slip decoration.

Pennsylvania Auction Center Charger -- 

Collection of Red Earthenware that is Scheduled to Sell Today in Pennsylvania

Photo Courtesy: Pennsylvania Auction Center - Quarryville, PA

Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Charger Attributed to Philadelphia, PA

Circa 1790-1830

Measures 13 1/2" in Diameter

Scheduled to Sell Today in Pennsylvania

Photo Courtesy: Pennsylvania Auction Center - Quarryville, PA

View of the Back of the Charger

Photo Courtesy: Pennsylvania Auction Center - Quarryville, PA

Metropolitan Museum of Art Charger --

Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Charger Attributed to Philadelphia, PA

Circa 1800-1820

Measures 15 3/4" in Diameter

Photo Courtesy: Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York City

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

A Very-Rare Example of 19th Century Charlestown, Massachusetts Stoneware that was Recently Acquired

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a rare stoneware object that was recently discovered by a friend in Detroit, Maine. Luckily, I was given the opportunity to acquire this object for my personal collection. This oddly formed object is the top to a multi-piece salt-glazed stoneware distiller, also called an alembic, that was likely made at the Fredrick Carpenter Pottery in Charlestown, Massachusetts in the early-nineteenth-century.

It is my belief that this object could be related to a distillery that was located in Charlestown from the early-eighteenth-century into the 1800's. This distillery burned at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775; however, it was later rebuilt after the American Revolution. If this object is related to this distillery then this distiller must have been a special ordered product.

According to Wikipedia, "An alembic is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for distilling chemicals. Technically, the alembic is the lid with a tube attachment, which is placed on top of the flask (the cucurbit) containing the material to be distilled. The liquid in the cucurbit flask is heated or boiled; the vapour rises into the alembic hood, where it cools by contact with the walls and condenses running down the spout into a receiving flask."

The following object is entirely hand-thrown. An interesting characteristic: the entire shoulder is decorated with cobalt, which isn't a style regularly seen today with surviving Charlestown-made stoneware.

Stoneware Alembic Lid Pictured with Early-19th Century Charlestown, Mass. Stoneware

Both Examples (Crock & Jug) are Marked 'Boston' But They Were Made in Charlestown, Mass.

 Early-19th Century Salt-Glazed Stoneware Alembic Lid

Likely Made at the Frederick Carpenter Pottery in Charlestown, Mass.
Possibly Related to a Distillery Located in Charlestown, Mass.

Circa 1795-1820

Measures 14" Long

Recently Discovered in Detroit, ME

View of the Interior

The Shoulder is Decorated with Cobalt

The only pictures that I could find, which demonstrate how this product may have appeared are found on the website, AlchemyPottery.com. According to the site, "these are authentic pottery replicas of distillers that were used in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. These objects stand anywhere from 18 inches to 22 inches tall. These are working models of fifteenth-century pieces unearthed in Germany and the Czech Republic. The top crown fits securely into the body of the vessel and is easily removed for filling and cleaning."

Note: I'm not sure if the object shown to the far left is a reproduction or an actual distiller, which may have been used as inspiration. It appears to have significant age (to me).

Group of Ceramic Alembic Distillers 

Stand 18" to 22" Tall

The Object Discussed Above Would Have Been the Top Piece

Photo Courtesy: Alchemy Pottery - Sacramento, CA

Here is another example; however, I believe this is a medieval example from Germany, which isn't exactly how the object found in Maine would have appeared; although, it is a good diagram that shows how this instrument would have worked. The idea is very-similar.

Medieval Period German Alembic

Photo Courtesy: German Wikipedia

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

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Bank that was Recently Uncovered in Portland, Maine

Visually, this isn't the most exciting product since the potter left the object unglazed; however, it could possibly be an important object in respect to the context that it was discovered. This nineteenth-century red earthenware bank or money box was recently uncovered in Portland, Maine. It was likely deposited in the late-nineteenth-century.

The reason I suggest that this bank is important today is a result of the information that it can lend to the area's continued study of its local red earthenware industry. This form is rarely attributed to the potter's in Maine today. In fact, I have never seen another Maine-made bank before.

Personally, I believe this bank was either made at the Dodge family pottery in Portland or at the potters industry in North Yarmouth, Maine during the circa 1840-1880 period. I feel there are arguments that could be made for either attribution.

A friend, who is responsible for salvaging a large amount of red earthenware sherds, wasters and kiln furniture from various potter's sites in North Yarmouth, which are now owned by the state of Maine, has reportedly seen similar banks discovered in the ground near the potter's sites in North Yarmouth.

This object's form appears special. The finial and the base seem unusual for banks that I have seen from other potter's businesses elsewhere in New England, such as New Hampshire and Massachusetts during the same period.

 19th Century Unglazed Red Earthenware Bank or Money Box

Uncovered in Portland, ME

Likely Made in Portland, ME or North Yarmouth, ME

Circa 1840-1880

Stands 4 7/8" Tall

 View of the Back

View of the Base

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

A Rare Red Earthenware Bottle that Recently Emerged Near Sunapee, New Hampshire

Today, I want to show a rare red earthenware object that recently emerged in the Sunepee, New Hampshire-area, which is located next to Lake Sunapee to the northwest of Concord, New Hampshire. The distance between Concord and Sunapee is approximately forty-five miles.

A Rare Bottle

This object is in the form of an eighteenth-century glass onion bottle, which was predominantly popular with European glass-makers throughout the 1700's. Remains from these types of bottles are found in just about every major colonial American city. For example: there are dozens of onion bottle shards that were recovered in Charlestown, Massachusetts in various contexts that date before the Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775. However, I actually believe this red earthenware onion bottle may date from a later period during the nineteenth-century. I believe it could be the product of a potter's business that appears to have taken a special interest in reproducing imported eighteenth-century objects after 1840.

I should note that red earthenware products made in New Hampshire during the 1700's are exceedingly rare today, and any such survivors are mostly limited to the businesses that were located in early-communities near the New Hampshire seacoast, such as Exeter, New Hampshire and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Most New Hampshire-made red earthenware today actually dates from the nineteenth-century. There are only a limited number of eighteenth-century examples known, which are divided between prominent private collections, historical societies and national museums.

The reason I suggest the later period for this product is the result of Historic New England, which owns a few inscribed objects that were donated as part of the Nina Fletcher Little Collection - these particular objects were made at the Clark Pottery in Concord, New Hampshire during the 1840-1860 period. They imitate eighteenth-century English salt-glazed plates. It appears that the Concord business used an actual eighteenth-century plate as a mold, which was then used to manufacture the objects that are owned by Historic New England at Cogswell's Grant in Essex, Massachusetts. This isn't a rare, instance, either - the Clark Pottery in Concord is known to have experimented and broadened its production value during the 1840's to the 1880's, which is different than most utilitarian potter's businesses in northern New England during the same period. For instance, they made products, which supported presidential campaigns, painted artware often formed in ancient-styles, whimsical objects, etc.

For a brief history: The Clark family is a family of potters, who  began in the 1760's in Brantree, Massachusetts under the control of the business' founding family member, Peter Clark. However, Peter Clark chose to move his family to Lyndeborough, New Hampshire before the American Revolution began in 1775. The family eventually expanded its business through three-generations of potters, and, ultimately, another potter's business was established in Concord, which lasted until the 1880's.

Possible Attribution

Now, taking the ideas that are mentioned above into consideration, and also the location where this bottle was discovered - Why couldn't this object have also been made at this pottery? The fluid glaze that is seen on the base of the bottle is also a glaze-style that is often found with known Clark Pottery products today. Glaze separation is also found in the glaze, which is also a characteristic of the Clark family. (Note: Personally, I don't believe this product is associated with the family's production in Lyndeborough. It doesn't fit with what is known about that area's production today; i.e. surviving examples, documented information and archaeological evidence.)

Unfortunately, I don't have definitive proof to support the idea that this bottle was definitely made in Concord; however, the idea behind its manufacture certainly fits with the unusual known output from this business.

 (Left) 18th Century European Glass Onion Bottle

(Right) 19th Century Red Earthenware Object in the Form of an Onion Bottle

Photo Courtesy: Mark Newton - Milford, NH

 19th Century Manganese Glazed Red Earthenware Bottle

The Bottle is a Potter's Imitation of an 18th Century European Onion Bottle
Possibly Made in Central or Western New Hampshire

Circa 1790-1860

Stands Approximately 6" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Mark Newton - Milford, NH

 View of the Interior

Photo Courtesy: Mark Newton - Milford, NH

 View of the Base

Photo Courtesy: Mark Newton - Milford, NH

Another View of the Base

Photo Courtesy: Mark Newton - Milford, NH

Further Evidence

I should also include the idea that Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins shows what she describes as a "black glazed red earthenware bottle in imitation of an eighteenth century glass form" in figure 66B in her important book, 'Early New England Potter's and Their Wares.' She attributes the bottle to the Chesham region in New Hampshire in the nineteenth-century, which was an area that employed a potter's industry in the 1800's. Today, this area is located in southwestern New Hampshire near the Vermont and Massachusetts borders. There is also a possibility that this red earthenware onion bottle is related to that object.

The bottle that is shown in 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares' is owned by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. today. 

19th Century Black Glazed Red Earthenware Bottle

Attributed to the Chesham Region in NH - Southwest NH

Circa 1800-1840

Stands 6 1/2" Tall

Lura Woodside Watkins Collection

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

For reference: I also know of another black-glazed red earthenware bottle that resides in an important long-time Essex County, Massachusetts private collection, which is also attributed to New Hampshire in the nineteenth-century. This privately owned bottle is in a similar form to the bottle that is shown in 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares.' 

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