New Discovery: A Previously Unidentified Surviving Example of William Pecker's Stoneware Production from Merrimacport, Mass.

Last Sunday, I posted an article about some of the red earthenware and stoneware remains that I found with my niece Alexis at the site of William Pecker's (1758-1820) circa 1790-1820 pottery in Merrimacport (formerly West Amesbury), Massachusetts. Among those artifacts was the top of a stoneware jug with some cobalt blue decoration and impressed with a two-gallon capacity mark. This artifact perfectly matched a two-gallon Pecker stoneware jug in my collection that was found a few years ago during a house clean-out of an old home in Wenham, Massachusetts.

Because of this artifact and capacity mark, New York state collector and researcher Jude Hanley was able to identify a jug owned privately in Maine as a previously unknown surviving example of Pecker's stoneware production, which is extremely rare to find today. The owner of that jug, collector and researcher Toby Ramirez then determined that the impressed flower found on the jug matched a flower known from Pecker's production; this style of flower has been previously published in a feature story I wrote about Pecker's stoneware production for the August 2015 edition of the New England Antiques Journal entitled, William Pecker: A Forgotten Stoneware Potter from Merrimacport, Mass., as well as an article published in the 2004 edition of Ceramics in America.

Nevertheless, it is also interesting to note that recent history (before it was owned privately in Maine) has previously identified this jug as an object made by the Crolius family in New York City. While there may be similarities found with this object and stoneware manufactured in Manhattan, this jug is in fact one of only a small group of surviving stoneware objects known from the Pecker Pottery in Merrimacport today.

My Niece Alexis with the William Pecker Pottery Stoneware Jug

 My Niece Alexis with the Circa 1790-1820 William Pecker Pottery Stoneware Jug

We Found a Number of Related Stoneware Artifact Last Weekend at the Site of the Pecker Pottery

See Article for More Information

 19th Century Stoneware Jug Attributed to the William Pecker Pottery in Merrimacport, Mass.

Circa 1790-1820

Stands 15 1/2" Tall

See Article for More Information

 Archaeological Evidence and Signed Wares Reveal this Capacity Mark and Flower were Produced at the William Pecker Pottery in Merrimacport, Mass.

See Article for More Information

 Another View of the Jug

See Article for More Information

 Another View of the Jug

See Article for More Information

 View of the Handle

See Article for More Information

 Another View of the Handle

See Article for More Information

View of the Base

See Article for More Information

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

A Possible Example of 19th Century Mourning Red Earthenware Made in Connecticut

Yesterday, I visited the ADA / Historic Deerfield Antiques Show at the Armory in Hartford, Connecticut; afterwards, I drove to the Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art, also in Hartford. I have been meaning to visit this museum for almost a decade now, but for one reason or another, I have never visited.

But I made it a priority yesterday to visit the Wadsworth Antheneum and study some of the museum's collection of red earthenware on display, although the exhibit is merely a small example of what the museum actually owns.

According to the Wadsworth Antheneum, "A native and lifelong resident of Hartford, Albert Hastings Pitkin (1852-1917) was among the first to systematically study and collect early American pottery. While visiting a local farmhouse in the spring of 1884, his discovery of two pieces of redware, or lead glazed earthenware pottery, spurred his passion for ceramics. Pitkin soon amassed a collection and became known as the leading authority on New England earthenware. In 1910 he joined the staff at the Wadsworth Antheneum as curator of the department of ceramics. During his tenure, he oversaw the installation of his own collections in the Morgan Memorial, and upon his death, his wife, Sarah Howard Loomis Pitkin, donated over three hundred objects to the museum."

While this red earthenware pitcher is not from the Pitkin collection, it is what I believe to be one of the more significant examples of nineteenth century Connecticut red earthenware known today. To my knowledge, I am also amazed as to why this pitcher has not been widely published. Certainly, I could be mistaken, but I do not recall having ever seen this object before yesterday.

This object was acquired by the museum in 1910, as a gift from Mrs. Louise S. Bunce, and was made by Hiram Griffin in Connecticut, circa 1822; the information on display with the exhibit reads, "This pitcher with poetic inscription highlights the importance of storytelling and recitation as a means of eduction and entertainment in the period. This vernacular poem may refer to the loss of a loved one, which many in the nineteenth century memorialized in ornament mourning wares, such as needlework, pictures and jewelry."

The inscription reads:

On distant shores and plains a far/

in [fight] he gave his [gallant] breath/

His life no more influences the war/

But [closed] forever, shut in death/

Flow in fair [blow], Joyous flow/

Once wave thy boughs, thou ancient tree/

in [all] the[ir] fragrant gales that blow/

that pain may [cease], once sorrow flea.

Made by Hiram/

Griffin Feby 22nd 1822/

[We] would [learn] [private] [birthes]

how to glide/

through shacks and plains, along the

smoothest/

[streams] of rural life.

Possible Example of Mourning Red Earthenware Made in Connecticut

19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher Made in Connecticut

Made by Hiram Griffin

Possibly Made as a Mourning Piece of Red Earthenware

Circa 1822

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art

 View of the Interior

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art

 View of the Handle

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art

 Another View of the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art

Information on Display with the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art

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

Examples of Red Earthenware Production from West Hartford, Connecticut

Since the ADA / Historic Deerfield Antiques Show opens in less-than two hours at the Armory in Hartford, Connecticut, I thought I would post a few examples of late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century red earthenware from Hartford from my private collection.

These wares represent production from the Nathaniel Seymour and the Thomas O'Hara Goodwin potteries in West Hartford, Connecticut. While Seymour's business is widely known today for its wonderful slip decoration, both businesses can be overlooked for the type of wares that were produced adorned with other styles of glazes.

Below I have posted a dramatic large slip decorated red earthenware jar from the Seymour pottery, as well as another example of slip decoration from Seymour, but I have also posted three jars attributed to the Goodwin Pottery from the early 1800s.

West Hartford, CT Red Earthenware

Late 18th and Early 19th Century Red Earthenware from West Hartford, CT

See Article for More Information

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

The Pennsylvania German Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

When it comes to red earthenware and stoneware, and where to see some of the best public collections in the country today, the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City come to mind.

However, the collection of eighteenth and nineteenth century Pennsylvania German wares owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art are easily equal to any major museum collection in America. In fact, the museum's Pennsylvania German Collection book is a must-have for any serious library of domestic red earthenware and stoneware, and also priced at a bargain of only ten-dollars through the museum bookstore.

Nonetheless, seeing the Philadelphia Museum of Art's collection in the American Art Wing never gets old; it has been a thrill each and every time I have visited. Many exceptional pieces are on display, and even more are kept behind the scenes. I suspect that it does not really matter how much knowledge a person possesses about this subject in order to appreciate the artistic skill and all-around beauty found in many of these objects, especially the plates and dishes.

These pictures were taken the last time I visited the museum, which was probably four or five years ago. It is tough to describe the magnitude of what is owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, until a person has actually visited the museum. But I feel the experience itself is very similar to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whereas you can look at the pictures all you want on the museum's website, but the true adventure begins once you have walked through the museum's doors, wandering the rooms and hallways, and actually witnessing the visual beauty and history of these objects with your own eyes.

Note: The Philadelphia Museum of Art also owns a remarkable collection of stoneware, including examples from the Edgefield District in South Carolina, Virginia, Pensnylvania, New Jersey and New York City.

Philadelphia Museum of Art Pennsylvania German Red Earthenware Collection

18th/19th Century Pennsylvania German Red Earthenware

Displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art

18th/19th Century Pennsylvania German Red Earthenware

Displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art

18th/19th Century Pennsylvania German Red Earthenware

Displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art

18th/19th Century Pennsylvania German Red Earthenware

Displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art

18th/19th Century Pennsylvania German Red Earthenware

Displayed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Some of the Stoneware Owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Some of the Stoneware Owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Some of the Stoneware Owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art

19th Century Stoneware Water Cooler

Made by Solomon Bell in Strasburg, VA

Circa 1842

Stands 18 5/8" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Philadelphia Museum of Art

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

A Red Earthenware Jar Inscribed "John Dunes / keep it fore you sake / September first 1835"

Some people may recognize this red earthenware jar as an object that has been sold publicly in the last decade; it is inscribed, "John Dunes / keep it fore you sake / September first 1835." A similar object was referenced by Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins in Early New England Potters and Their Wares from the collection of Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts - however some of her information actually came from Frederick Sherman Fairchild's (1874-1940) book Early Connecticut Artists and Craftsmen, published in 1925.

According to Watkins, "Frederick Sherman Fairchild in Early Connecticut Artists and Craftsmen mentions J. Duntze as a New Haven potter. He is probably the man who marked a dark brown jar in the Old Sturbridge Village collection "John Dunes / keep it fore you sake / September first 1835.""

Nevertheless, Old Sturbridge Village acquired the jar that sold a few years back for their permanent collection. I have also handled this jar since its acquisition by the musuem, and it may very-well have been made in Connecticut, but the overall form, manufacture, size, rounded foot, thickness of the clay, glaze color and incised decoration certainly resembles red earthenware manufactured in Essex County, Massachusetts and Lyndeborough, New Hampshire in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century.

Ever since the day I studied this object, I have wondered whether the name "John Dunes" was the potter or a reference to a person named John Dunes whom the jar may have been made for. In fact, there were people born with the surname Dunes living in Essex County during this period. I would think it would also be unusual to find red earthenware production in New Haven as late as 1835 in consideration of the successful local stoneware industry that had materialized, along with the well-established red earthenware industry located about 30 miles southeast in Norwalk, Connecticut.

It should also be noted that the overall form of this jar closely resembles a style manufactured by Peter Clark (1743-1826) in Lyndeborough in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century; Clark was also an Essex County trained potter, who migrated to Braintree, Massachusetts in the 1760s, and later Lyndeborough, only a matter of months before the American Revolution began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 18, 1775.

Red Earthenware Jar Inscribed "John Dunes / keep it fore you sake / September first 1835"

19th Century Red Earthenware Jar

Inscribed "John Dunes / keep it fore you sake / September first 1835"

Past Publications Suggest a New Haven, Connecticut Origin

But the Form Also Appears Like it Could be from Essex County, Mass.
Circa September 1, 1835

Stands 6 1/2" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village

 Jar is Inscribed "John Dunes / keep it fore you sake / September first 1835"

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village

 Jar is Inscribed "John Dunes / keep it fore you sake / September first 1835"

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village

 View of the Round Footed Base

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village

View of the Interior

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village

Essex County, Mass. / Lyndeborough, NH

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

Likely Made in Essex County, Mass. or Lyndeborough, NH

Stands 6" Tall

See Article for More Information

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

Attributed to Peter Clark in Lyndeborough, NH

Circa 1790-1810

Stands 7" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: New Hampshire Historical Society

John Duntze Stoneware, New Haven, CT

Four Gallon 19th Century Stoneware Jug

John Duntze - New Haven, CT

Stands 15" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Lewis Scranton

Another View of the John Duntze Jug

Lewis Scranton Collection - Killingworth, CT

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Skinner

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

A Remarkable Example of 19th Century Stoneware in the Collection of Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts

Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins is probably most known today for Early New England Potters and Their Wares, but she also wrote books on other subjects in American antiques, including somewhat of a followup to her landmark book, called Early New England Pottery, which was published in 1959 through Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. This 23 page booklet was published as part of Old Sturbridge Village's booklet series and highlights some of the wonderful examples of pottery in the museum's collection.

Among those objects is one of my all-time favorite pieces of stoneware, an early-nineteenth century  jug attributed to New England, which is decorated with an incredible incised two-masted schooner with nine people inside and an American flag. The scene is further embellished with cobalt blue decoration, and really transforms this object into an excellent example of nineteenth century American folk art.

According to Watkins, "At first the shapes of stoneware jugs and pots were exceedingly good. The earliest pieces tended to a slender ovoid form and were attractive enough in themselves to require little decoration. The first attempts at embellishment were designs such as a fish, bird or a flower incised by hand and generally, although not invariably, touched with blue slip. This colored slip, compounded with cobalt, was also swashed around the handles or ears of the vessels. An extremely handsome example of incised decoration may be seen in a jug in Old Sturbridge Village's collection; on this jug the elaborate design has been deeply colored with blue and makes a striking appearance indeed."

Wonderful New England Stoneware Jug

Early-19th Century Stoneware Jug Attributed to New England

Possibly Made in Connecticut

Circa 1800-1830

Stands 10 1/2" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village

Another View of the Jug

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village

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

Hervey Brooks' 1802-1873 Account Books and Day Books from Goshen, Connecticut

It has been almost one month since I wrote about Daniel Clark's (1743-1826) 1789-1826 diary from Lyndeborough and Concord, New Hampshire, which is owned by the New Hampshire Historical Society; Lura Woodside Watkins also wrote about this diary in Early New England Potters and Their Wares, stating that because of this book, Clark's career is likely the most detailed of any potter employed in New England in the eighteenth or nineteenth century. This book is a remarkable time capsule seeing that Clark actually jotted down some kind of information or account every single day during the period that his diary was used.

According to Watkins, "The story of Daniel Clark stands out vividly than that of any New England potter, save for Hervey Brooks of Goshen, Connecticut...whereas, Brooks also kept accounts of his business from the year 1802 until his death in 1873."

The site of the Hervey Brooks (1779-1873) pottery was added to the National Register of Historic Plates in 1993, and the account books and day books are owned today by Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

According to the Connecticut Historical Society, "Hervey Brooks was an American potter and farmer who made red earthenware in Goshen for more than one half century. His production provided domestic wares for an isolated countryside and contributed to an informal system of sales, barter and trade that characterized the rural economy of the period. While few records of this trade exist, Brooks left behind extensive documentation of his business transactions and daily responsibilities that provide historians a unique look at the life of a nineteenth century farmer-potter.

The life of a farmer-potter meant that Brooks did not have the luxury of spending all his time perfecting his craft. In fact, from 1828 until 1864 Brooks only fired his kiln one day per year because life on the farm also involved sawing lumber, blacksmithing, carpentry, and a host of other responsibilities that kept him from his pottery.

When Brooks passed away in 1873, he left behind account books and day books. He also left a largely intact manufacturing facility that provided archaeologists with new insight into the tools, materials and processes that went into his production of red earthenware."

Note: There are other journals and day books known from New England potters today, such as John Parker's 1747-1761 Charlestown, Massachusetts day book, as well as Abraham Hews' 1780-1794 Weston, Massachusetts day book, both owned by the Baker Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Maine State Museum also owns John Corliss' nineteenth century account book from Days Ferry, Woolwich, Maine.

Hervey Brooks' Pottery in Goshen, CT

Hervey Brooks' Potter's Day Book from 1822 - Goshen, CT

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village

Hervery Brooks' 19th Century Pottery Wheel

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Litchfield, CT Historical Society

19th Century Red Earthenware Pot Made at the Hervey Brooks Pottery in Goshen, CT

Stamped "H BROOKS"

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Litchfield, CT Historical Society

 19th Century Red Earthenware Stove Pipe Made at the Hervey Brooks Pottery in Goshen, CT

Stamped "H BROOKS"

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Litchfield, CT Historical Society

 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Pan

Attributed to the Hervey Brooks Pottery in Goshen, CT

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Litchfield, CT Historical Society

 19th Century Red Earthenware Pan Made at the Hervey Brooks Pottery in Goshen, CT

Stamped "H BROOKS"

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Litchfield, CT Historical Society

19th Century Slip-Script Red Earthenware Pan 

Made at the Hervey Brooks Pottery in Goshen, CT

Inscribed in Slip "HB 1858"

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Litchfield, CT Historical Society

Other New England Potter's Day Books and Diaries

 Daniel Clark's 1789-1826 Diary from Lyndeborough, NH and Concord, NH

See Aticle for More Information

Photo Courtesy: New Hampshire Historical Society

 John Parker's 1747-1761 Day Book from Charlestown, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Baker Library, Harvard University

Abraham Hews' 1780-1794 Day Book from Weston, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Baker Library, Harvard University

John Corliss' 19th Century Account Book from Days Ferry, Woolwich, ME
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Maine State Museum

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