A Rare Massachusetts Red Earthenware Pitcher Compared to a Sherd that is Owned by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

I visited the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. two days ago to study the museum's collection of eighteenth, nineteenth and early-twentieth century American-made red earthenware and stoneware, as well as the archaeology collections from various potter's sites in New England and New York. I will be writing about much of the archaeology over the next few weeks; although, I will also share some of the important objects that I saw, as well

Nevertheless, I picked up this wonderful late-eighteenth or early-nineteenth century green and maroon glazed red earthenware pitcher on my way to the Smithsonian last week. I successfully won this object at an onsite auction in New Jersey a few week's ago during Columbus Day Weekend, and the auctioneer had brought it back to their auction gallery in northeast Pennsylvania. The color on this object is incredible; whereas, it is attributed to the potter's industry in southeastern Massachusetts. But I have never seen this form from this industry before even though the handle, the glaze and the footed base are known from the potter's businesses in this section of Massachusetts. This is also a distinct glaze that I have never seen from any other potter's industry before.

However, I was excited to learn at the Smithsonian that Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) had collected a matching decorated red earthenware sherd in Somerset, Massachusetts in the 1940s.

I have always found it difficult to attribute some of the red earthenware from southeastern Massachusetts to a specific potter's business, as a result of the number of potters, who were employed in the 1700s and 1800s. Although, I believe this sherd can now attribute this wonderful pitcher to Somerset, which likely means that this object was made at either the Chace Pottery or the Puritan Pottery in the late-1700s or early-1800s.

Somerset, Massachusetts Potter's Industry

George Brown (Somerset, MA)

Samuel B. Collins (Somerset, MA)

Benjamin Cartwright Chase Jr. – son of Benjamin (Norwalk, CT and Somerset, MA)

Joseph Gray (Somerset, MA) - 1854

Benajmin Cleveland (Somerset, MA) – 1856

Charles E. Hathaway (Somerset, MA) – 1880-1895

            Chace Family Pottery

Leonard Chace – son of Clark (Somerset, MA)

Stephen Chace III – son of Stephen II (Somerset, MA) 

Clark Chace – son of Asa (Somerset, MA)

Asa Chace (Somerset, MA) - 1744-1812

Stephen Chace – son of Asa (Somerset, MA) – 1769-1815

Elijah Cornell (Swansea “Somerset”, MA and New York State) – 1771-1862

Stephen Chace II – son of Stephen (Somerset, MA) – d. after 1824

Joseph Chace – son of Asa (Somerset, MA) – 1785-1815

Enoch Boyce Chace (Berkley and Somerset, MA) – 1794-1825

Clark Chace Jr. – son of Asa (Somerset, MA) – b. 1814

Benjamin G. Chace Sr. – son of Clark (Somerset, MA) – b. 1812    

            Purinton Pottery of South Danvers and Somerset, MA

Daniel Purinton (South Danvers and Somerset, MA) – d. 1764

Clark Purinton – son of Daniel (Somerset, Mass) – 1730-1786

Clark Purinton Jr. – son of Clark (Somerset, Mass) – d. 1817

George Purinton – son of Clark Jr. (Somerset, Mass) - 1835

David P. Purinton – son of Samuel (Somersett, MA) – 1856

Dexter Purinton (Somerset, MA) - 1856

George S. Purinton (Somerset, MA) – 1856

Samuel S. Purinton (Somersett, MA) – 1856

            Shove Family of Swansea & Berkely, Mass

Theophilus Shove (Somerset, Mass) – 1741-1831   

            Synan Family of Somerset

Patrick Synan (Somerset, MA) – 1893
William Synan (Somerset, MA) - 1893

Note: This pitcher was likely never made with a lid; although, a previous owner did carve a make-do wooden cover with a ceramic knob that fits it perfectly. I also suspect that this lid was made for this object in the nineteenth century.

Red Earthenware Pitcher Acquired from Onsite Sale in New Jersey

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher

Attributed to the Potter's Industry in Southeastern Massachusetts

Likely Made at Either the Chace Pottery or the Puritan Pottery in Somerset, MA

Circa 1780-1820

Stands 5 3/8" Tall Without the Lid

See Article for More Information

 Another View of the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

  Another View of the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

View of the Handle

See Article for More Information

View of the Base

See Article for More Information

 View of the Homemade Lid

This Pitcher was Probably Not Made with a Lid

See Article for More Information

  Another View of the Homemade Lid

This Pitcher was Probably Not Made with a Lid

See Article for More Information

Sherd Recovered in Somerset, Mass.

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Sherd

Recovered in Somerset, Mass. in the 1940s by Author, Lura Woodside Watkins

Glaze Style Closely Resembles the Glaze Found on the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

Another View of the Sherd

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian

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

The History of the Red Earthenware Kept at the Early-Nineteenth Century Captain Elias Davis House in Gloucester, Massachusetts

Yesterday, I visited the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester, Massachusetts to view a new exhibit, 'Drawn from Nature & on Stone: The Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane." This exhibition runs from October 7, 2017 until March 4, 2018; where the museum describes Lane as "America's preeminent marine artist of the mid-nineteenth century." But Lane was also an accomplished printmaker having produced a wide variety of lithographs, which include coastal views and historic images, such as Gloucester, Castine, Maine, Saint John, New Brunswick, Newburyport, Massachusetts, New Bedford, Massachusetts, Middlesex Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, Norwich, Connecticut, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland, as well as lithographs of landmark buildings, decorative images, sheet music and historic figures.

"Drawn from Nature & on Stone features lithographs from the Cape Ann Museum's own holdings and from collections throughout the region including the American Antiquarian Society, the Boston Athenaeum, the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress. The exhibition offers scholars and lay people alike the opportunity to explore the intersection of Lane's work as a printmaker and a painter."

However, I also visited the early-nineteenth century Captain Elias Davis (1758-1821) House, a three-story Federal Period home in Gloucester, which happens to be attached to the museum and furnished with a wonderful selection of decorative arts that mostly retain a local history of ownership.

According to the Cape Ann Museum, "The Captain Elias Davis House, built in 1804 by one of Gloucester's most successful sea captains, houses much of the museum's furniture and decorative arts collection in the four rooms on the house's first floor. In keeping with life in the early-nineteenth century, the house is furnished and decorated with domestic and personal items. Many of the objects in the house actually belonged to Elias Davis and his descendants."

I posted most of the pictures that I took of the interior of this house yesterday on my Facebook page, but I did not include the collection of late-eighteenth/nineteenth century and possibly twentieth century red earthenware. It is interesting to see many of these objects in this type of context since it appears that the potters in Peabody, Massachusetts and Newburyport, Massachusetts were exporting their wares to Gloucester during this period; whereas, I have previously published on this website that the potter's from Newburyport and Peabody exported elsewhere in New England in the eighteenth century.

Nevertheless, this collection also included nineteenth century slip-decorated objects from Long Island in New York and Pennsylvania; although, it is not known if these objects directly retain a local history of ownership. But I would also like to note that examples of Long Island pottery have been recovered in nineteenth century contexts of ownership on Cape Cod in the early-twentieth century by Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares), and red earthenware from Philadelphia has also been recovered in nineteenth century contexts of ownership in places like Boston and Salem, Massachusetts.

Note: I have not posted the entire collection of red earthenware that is kept at the Captain Elias House in Gloucester, Massachusetts - there were simple utilitarian objects, as well that included some dishes, food molds and pots. However, I thought the following objects had the most potential to tell a story about the type of red earthenware that was possibly available in Gloucester in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There was also a large collection of European and Chinese ceramics kept in this house, which also retained a history of ownership.

Captain Elias Davis House, Gloucester, Mass.

Captain Elias Davis House in Gloucester, Mass.

Built in 1804

See Article for More Information

Collection of Red Earthenware at the Captain Elias Davis House

(Left) 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Plate

Attributed to Pennsylvania, Possibly Philadelphia

See Article for More Information

(Middle) 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Plate

Attributed to Pennsylvania, Possibly Philadelphia

See Article for More Information

(Right) 19th Century Red Earthenware Jug

Likely Made in Essex County, Mass.

See Article for More Informatioin

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

(Back) 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Plate

Attributed to Long Island

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

(Front) 18th or 19th Century Red Earthenware Bowl

Attributed to the Industry in Peabody, Mass.

Similar Bowl Pictured in 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares'

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

Another View of the Bowl

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

(Back) 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

New England or Mid-Atlantic Origin

See Article for More Information

(Front) Likely 18th or 19th Century Red Earthenware Creamer or Small Pitcher

Likely Made in Newburyport, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

(Left) 19th Century Black-Glazed Red Earthenware Mugs

Likely Made in Essex County, Mass.

 See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

(Right) 19th or 20th Century Red Earthenware Flower Pots

Attributed to Peabody, Mass.

Similar Objects Pictured in 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares'

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cape Ann Museum - Gloucester, Mass.

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

A Preview of an Upcoming Published Article in the November 2017 Edition of the New England Antiques Journal

Yesterday, I mentioned in a short post on Facebook that my latest published article will be included in the November 2017 edition of the New England Antiques Journal. This article will analyze the eighteenth and nineteenth century red earthenware potter's industry in Peabody, Massachusetts; although, this industry continued into the twentieth century with the Moses Paige Pottery, which is a potter's business that I have recently written about on this website.

One of the main points that I discuss in this article is the use of slip-decoration within this industry, where it has been previously published that slip was not really used by the potter's in Peabody after 1750. But I have found evidence that suggests slip was occasionally manufactured by this industry into the 1800s even though it was not on a large scale, such as was the production with many of the potters in Pennsylvania during the same period.

Nevertheless, the idea that eighteenth century French-inspired forms were also produced in Peabody is a topic that is also discussed; whereas, a similar style of French-inspired production has been recovered within an eighteenth century colonial archaeological context at the site of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

Other topics in this article include newly discovered sherds and kiln waste found at a potter's site in Peabody and elsewhere in the area, archaeological evidence from Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, as well as previously unpublished objects from museum collections and private collections.

Note: The following pictures were not included in the upcoming article, but all of these objects are attributed to the potter's industry in Peabody, Massachusetts by the Peabody Historical Society from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Three of the images shown below display objects that were made at the Moses Paige Pottery in the late-nineteenth and twentieth century, which is a style of production that can often be mistaken for other locations today.

Various Objects Made in Peabody, Mass.

 Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher

Attributed to Peabody, Mass., Possibly the Osborn Pottery
Similar Object Recovered in Salem, Mass. Within a Circa 1770-1810 Archaeological Context

Circa 1770-1820

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

  Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Jug, Lid and Pitcher

Attributed to Peabody, Mass., Possibly the Osborn Pottery
Similar Pitcher Recovered in Salem, Mass. Within a Circa 1770-1810 Archaeological Context

All Objects Shown Here Likely Circa 1770-1820
The Jug Could Also Be Mistaken for Production in SE Mass. from the Same Period

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar

Attributed to Peabody, Mass.

A Similar Form was Made in North Yarmouth, ME
There was an Influence from Essex County, Mass. with some of the Production in North Yarmouth

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

Moses Paige Pottery in Peabody, Mass.

 Early-20th Century Green-Glazed Red Earthenware Vase

Attributed to the Moses Paige Pottery in Peabody, Mass.
This Type of Production Would Likely Be Attributed Elsewhere Today

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

 Early-20th Century Red Earthenware Stew Pot

Attributed to the Moses Paige Pottery in Peabody, Mass.

Likely Made by John Donovan at the Paige Pottery

A Matching Stamped with Donovan's Name is Owned by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
This Type of Production Would Likely Be Attributed Elsewhere Today

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

Late-19th or Early-20th Century Red Earthenware Candlesticks

Attributed to the Moses Paige Pottery in Peabody, Mass.
This Type of Production Would Likely Be Attributed Elsewhere Today

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

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

19th Century Red Earthenware Sherds Recently Recovered in Alfred, ME

There were a small group of red earthenware potters, who operated in Alfred, Maine in the late-eighteenth and early-to-mid-nineteenth centuries; however, I feel this is a type of production that is not widely known today. I have seen examples of pottery attributed to Alfred, but I have always wondered how the attribution was developed since I can not find much accurate information about this area today.

According to Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares), "Joshua Emery started the Alfred, Maine pottery in 1791. At some point before 1805 he moved to Windham, Maine, and later to Gorham, Maine, where he ran a gristmill. He was followed in 1805 by Daniel Holmes, whose pottery stood opposite of the Alfred meetinghouse. Either the shop itself or the business was reportedly moved north, and under the ownership of Porter Lambert, it was nearly opposite the courthouse. 

The Lambert shop was behind the buildings that composed the Berry Tavern. When the inn was being demolished in 1938, we visited the site finding numerous fragments, but none of any significance (these sherds are owned by the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. today). This tavern was bought in 1832 by General Samuel Leighton, who, in his diary, facetiously refers to it as his 'pot stable.' Porter Lambert was working there as early as 1825.

Thus came a close to the Lambert Pottery. General Leighton makes a note that Porter Lambert died the morning of August 9, 1839. When Leighton bought the property, Lambert was in business with his son-in-law Albert Weber. The Executive Documents Relative to the Manufacturers in the United States record that they made annually earthenware of various kinds worth five-hundred dollars. They employed two men at seventy-five-cents a day and sold all their output in Maine. Albert Weber is remembered by persons now living (1930s). After the pottery in Alfred came to an end he opened a shop in North Yarmouth, Maine."

A friend, Matt Anson, who is a collector and researcher in southern Maine recently contacted me saying that he had recovered a group of red earthenware sherds in Aflred; whereas, he said, "These sherds were discovered in an old foundation hole from the nineteenth century. The site had been occupied from the early-1800s until about World War 1 by a family named Goodrich."

I was actually quite excited to see the glaze on some of these sherds since some are decorated with a grayish-colored glaze, which is a style that I have seen before from southern Maine. I also assume that these sherds are the remains of objects that were likely made in Alfred in the early-mid-nineteenth century.

But I also wonder how much is accurately known about the potter's businesses in southern Maine today since there appears to have been so much overlap with glaze colors. For example, here is a link to an article that I published online a few years ago, which shows somewhat of a similar grayish-colored glaze that was recovered less than twenty-miles away at the site of the Bickford Pottery in Buxton, Maine, circa 1825-1880.

Note: Here is a link to an article that I published online last year, where I wrote about a nineteenth century utilitarian pot that is owned today by Winterthur in Delaware, which is attributed to Alfred, Maine.

Sherds Recovered in Alfred, ME

19th Century Grayish-Colored Glazed Sherd Recovered in Alfred, ME

Circa Early-to-Mid-19th Century

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Matt Anson - Maine

19th Century Sherds Recovered in Alfred, ME

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Matt Anson - Maine

19th Century Sherds Recovered in Alfred, ME

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Matt Anson - Maine

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

A 19th Century Stoneware Birdhouse Recovered from a Privy in Brooklyn, New York

There has been a lot of local and national publicity lately for Boston's City Archaeology Department, where archaeologist, Joe Bagley, as well as students and volunteers are thought to have discovered some sort of eighteenth or nineteenth century privy in Boston. The brick-lined structure was discovered on the property of the circa 1711 Piece-Hichborn house, which neighbors the seventeenth century Paul Revere House in Boston's North End neighborhood. So far there have not been a lot of artifacts recovered from this context; whereas, it appears that this privy had been previously cleaned-out and later back-filled with bricks and dirt in the 1800s.

Nevertheless, this nineteenth century stoneware birdhouse, which appears to have been hand-modeled was recently recovered from a circa 1860/1870 brick-lined privy in Brooklyn in New York City. I was told that there were actually three related birdhouses found within this deposit; however, this was the only intact example, where another was found missing its base and the third was recovered in pieces.

I have never seen this form of stoneware birdhouse before - therefore, I assume it is from a local nineteenth century manufacturer possibly from New York or New Jersey, but it would be interesting to hear what others think.

Note: Here is a link to an article recently published in Boston Magazine that further discusses the ongoing archaeology dig at the circa 1711 Pierce-Hichborn House in Boston's North End neighborhood.

Stoneware Birdhouse Recovered in Brooklyn, NY

19th Century Stoneware Birdhouse

Recovered from a Circa 1860/1870s Privy in Brooklyn in New York City

Possibly a Local Manufacturer

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Zach Miller - Bella Vista, AR

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

A Whimsical Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Lamb Found Yesterday in Southern Maine

I visited the Maine Historical Society's storage department yesterday in Portland, Maine in order to study some material that was made at the Dodge Pottery in Portland in the nineteenth century; however, I also visited some of the local shops in southern Maine while I drove home to Massachusetts.

I was surprised to see this slip-decorated red earthenware lamb in the junk section of one of the shops, where I believe a lot of the clean-out-type material from estates is kept. The woman working in the shop also told me that she believed this figure was recently found in Maine.

The manufacture of this object immediately reminded me of a related red earthenware cow, which I purchased a little over one-year ago when Nan Gurley's lifelong antique collection was sold onsite at her house in Parsonfield, Maine.

Nan Gurley's daughter, Rachel Gurley had told me that her mother had owned the cow for as long as she could remember, and it was an object that she had always kept in her secretary. But I had also assumed that Nan must have found the cow somewhere in northern New England.

Shortly after I posted an article about the cow on this website, I was contacted by Tim Saunders, who is an antiques dealer and collector in Bayfield, Ontario - he said he owned a related cow, which also retained a long history of local ownership in Ontario.

Nevertheless, this red earthenware lamb is decorated in two colors of slip, which closely resemble the colors commonly found on utilitarian pottery manufactured in Nova Scotia in the late-nineteenth century. Whereas, red earthenware from Nova Scotia has also been known to commonly appear in twentieth century contexts of ownership throughout Maine, which is completely understandable since Maine and Nova Scotia share the same border.

Note: The links posted above in this article show the slip-decorated red earthenware cow, which I bought from Nan Gurley's collection in Parsonfield, Maine, as well as the matching-formed cow that is owned today in Ontario.

Red Earthenware Lamb

19th Century Red Earthenware Lamb Found in Maine

Possibly Made in Canada in the Late-1800s

See Dollar Bill for Size Reference

See Article for More Information

Another View of the Lamb

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Another View of the Lamb

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Another View of the Lamb

See Article for More Information

View of the Base

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

An Important Stoneware Presentation Jar from Essex County, Massachusetts that Will Sell Later this Month in Maryland

An absolutely remarkable example of William Pecker stoneware made in Merrimacport, Massachusetts, circa 1790-1820 has been consigned to Crocker Farm's upcoming sale in Sparks, Maryland on October 28th; although, this object may also prove to be closer to the eighteenth century rather than something that Pecker produced in the latter years of his career.

According to Crocker Farm, "This six-gallon stoneware presentation jar with impressed bird-and-floral motif, as well as busts of George Washington is regarded as the finest known example of stoneware by this renowned early Massachusetts potter."

The attribution is possible for this object partially based on the impressed bird, which was found on a marked jar discovered at a southern flea market that was made by William Pecker and published in the 2004 edition of Ceramics in America. But I have also recovered a matching sherd decorated with an impressed bird and a matching handle, along with tons of wasters and kiln furniture at the actual site of Pecker's pottery in Merriamcport.

This jar has also been marked with a person's initials "S.H." but I have not attempted to research, who they may represent.

Note: Here is a link to an article that I had written about William Pecker's stoneware production in Merrimacport, Massachusetts, which was published in the August 2015 edition of the New England Antiques Journal.

Here is also a link to a YouTube video uploaded by Crocker Farm, where Mark Zipp talks about this significant piece of stoneware made by Pecker

Important William Pecker Stoneware Jar

 Important 6-Gallon Stoneware Presentation Jar Attributed to William Pecker - Merrimacport, Mass.

Circa 1790-1820

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm - Sparks, MD

 Another View of the Jar

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm - Sparks, MD

 View of the Busts of George Washington and the Inscribed "S.H."

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm - Sparks, MD

Another View of the Busts

See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Crocker Farm - Sparks, MD

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