An Inscribed American Red Earthenware Jug Dated May 5, 1861

This nineteenth century red earthenware jug recently sold on eBay, with an inscribed base that reads "Adam C. Muller May 5 1861." Any signed or dated red earthenware in considered extremely rare today, as would be the case with this piece, which I believe was most likely manufactured somewhere in the Mid Atlantic region.

However, the date "May 5 1861" is significant seeing that this was only a few months after the Civil War began on April 12, 1861 when Confederate troops fired on Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina's harbor. Less than thirty-four hours later, Union forces surrendered . Traditionally, this event has been used to mark the beginning on the Civil War. 

While I have zero proof of it, the date on the base of this jug coincidentally is also when Confederate troops abandoned Alexandria, Virginia. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful piece of Mid Atlantic red earthenware that can accurately be dated to the American Civil War period.

An Inscribed and Dated Red Earthenware Jug

19th Century Red Earthenware Jug Probably Made in the Mid-Atlantic Region

Inscribed on the Base "Adam C. Muller May 5 1861"

Stands About 5" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: eBay

View of the Inscribed Base
"Adam C. Muller May 5 1861"

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: eBay

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

An Important Handled Stoneware Flask that Showed Up in a Group Lot in Connecticut in 2004

I thought this would be a good story to share - seeing that it has been almost twenty years since this handled flask sold twice, and not everyone reading this post may know the chain of events that happened before this important stoneware object was acquired by Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

Nonetheless, the history of this rare eighteenth century stoneware flask attributed to Manhattan is unknown to me before it sold in a group lot at Nadeau's Auction Gallery in Windsor, Connecticut on October 2, 2004. Although, its history after that auction is rather well documented, where it was purchased at the sale by Leslie Keno and then cosigned to Sotheby's in New York City.

According to the auction record from Sotheby's, "Archaeologist and scholar Meta Janowitz examined photographs of this flask and she feels this may be an early example from the Crolius/Remmey group of potters who worked in Lower Manhattan at Potts-Baker Hill from circa 1720-1820. Unmarked vessels attributable to the first two generations of these potters, who were trained in the Rhineland in Germany are very scare."

The handled flask was then acquired by Colonial Williamsburg, which is where it resides today.

Note: The red earthenware mug that sold in the group lot (shown to the left) appears to be the same one that just sold in David Good's Collection at New Haven Auctions in Branford, Connecticut.

An Important Handled Stoneware Flask from Manhattan

(Middle) 18th Century Stoneware Flask that Sold in a Group Lot in Connecticut in 2004

The Lot was Purchased by Leslie Keno

(Left) 18th or Early 19th Century New England Red Earthenware Mug

This Appears to be the Same Mug that Just Sold in David Good's Collection at New Haven Auctions

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Nadeau's Auction Gallery

The Flask was then Consigned to Sotheby's in New York City

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Sotheby's

18th Century Stoneware Flask Attributed to the Crolius/Remmey Families in Manhattan

Each Side is Decorated with an Incised Heart Enclosing a Bird

Circa 1780

Stands 6 3/4" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Colonial Williamsburg

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

A Pottery Eagle Published in 1926 and Once Owned by J.B. Kerfoot

Last summer, I wrote about an important painted red earthenware wreath on this website that had just been rediscovered by the Das Haus Museum in Berkholz, Niagara County, New York, which was made by Carl Mehwaldt (1809-1887) in Berkholz in the nineteenth century. It is one of three commemorative wreaths known, all of which have been somewhat misplaced through time, and published in an article I wrote for the October 15, 2021 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, Carl Mehwaldt: A Pioneer German-American Potter And 19th-Century Immigrant - Redware From Western New York State. But I also highlighted an important red earthenware eagle in the article posted on this website that is related to the wreaths and also attributed to Mehwaldt. However, this is apparently not the only American-made eagle produced in this style.

Whether it is made out of stoneware or red earthenware, I do not know based on this black and white picture, but this is an object that I have always wondered where it ended up after it was published in 1926 by author John Spargo (1876-1966) in Early American Pottery and China. It is illustrated in Plate 37 and credited to John Barrett (J.B.) Kerfoot (1865-1927); it is also supposedly attributed to Phoenixvile, Pennsylvania, a borough in Chester County located 28 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Unfortunately, no further information is provided about this object, and its whereabouts is unknown to me today (although my guess is that it is privately owned).

Nonetheless, as some of you reading this may already know, J.B. Kerfoot was a literary critic for Life Magazine, amateur photographer, as well as an author that included the book American Pewter published in 1924, where a number of the objects illustrated in the book were photographed from his personal collection.

A Pottery Eagle Published in 1926 and Once Owned by J.B. Kerfoot

A Pottery Eagle Published in 1926 and Once Owned by J.B. Kerfoot

Published in Plate 37 in Early American Pottery and China

See Article for More Information

This is John Barrett (J.B.) Kerfoot in 1911 (1865-1927)

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institute

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

New Published Story - 19th Century Red Earthenware Candle Molds Made in Pennsylvania and New York

Just wanted to quickly post that a story I wrote about red earthenware candle molds made in southeastern Pennsylvania and western New York in the 1800s is on the cover of this week's issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, 19th-Century Red Earthenware Candle Molds Manufactured in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Western New York.

Here is a link to the online version of the story: https://antiquesandauctionnews.net/articles/19th–Century-Red-Earthenware-Candle-Molds-Manufactured-In-Southeastern-Pennsylvania-And-Western-New-York/

And here is a link to the print version of the story: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2022/03/print-version-of-my-cover-story.html

New Published Story - 19th Century Red Earthenware Candle Molds Made in PA and NY

New Published Story - 19th-Century Red Earthenware Candle Molds Manufactured in Southeastern Pennsylvania and Western New York

See Article for More Information

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

An Outstanding Late 19th Century Earthenware Humidor with a Hunting and Cabin in the Woods Theme

As you may recall, I recently wrote about this wonderful late nineteenth century earthenware humidor decorated with a hunting and a cabin in the woods theme. A lot of work actually went into making this piece seeing that much of it is hand modeled, while the rabbits, the birds and the rifle are all sprig molded, a technique used for decorating pottery by applying press molded shapes, motifs and figures to the main body of a ceramic shape before firing the ware in the kiln. Although, I am unsure about the recumbent dog, which I believe is a spaniel, but the dog also appears to be hand molded. 

This piece was previously owned by lifelong Toronto folk art and Canadiana collector Dr. Marty Osler, who began selling his sixty or so year collection through Miller & Miller Auctions in New Hamburg, Ontario in April of 2021 - and earlier this month, the auction house sold the second part of the important Osler Collection, which was considered by many to be more exciting than the first sale. These objects were acquired over many years from dealers, private sales and auctions in Ontario.

According to Marty's son Mark, "What the Millers have been selling is maybe only about twenty percent of the collection so far (much of which is remaining with the family). He collected things just because he liked them, not because he thought they were valuable. Marty's things are a phantasmagoria of treasures, which include carvings, burl bowls, trade signs, First Nations beadwork, steel toys, various works of art, decoys, fly fishing lures, carvings, rugs, among many other categories."

My thought right now is that this piece may have been made in western Ontario, where this type of production did take place in the 1800s, such as the manufacture of earthenware, stoneware, as well as a wide use of sprig molds. But nonetheless, this really is a work of art! The small size and detail are great!

For instance, it was published in 1977 in an article written by David Newlands for the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, titled, A Catalogue of Sprig Moulds From Two Huron County, Ontario, Earthenware Potteries, that, "During the years 1974-76 archaeological excavations at two Huron County earthenware potteries uncovered a large collection of potter's tools, including plaster of Paris forms for slip-moulding wares, a plaster of Paris coggle-wheel and twenty five sprig-moulds, small hand-held forms for making decorative reliefs or "spriggings" for ornamentation on pottery."

The sprig molds were used as early as 1874 on earthenware (however they were used earlier by Ontario stoneware potters), but were not applied on all types of pottery, as only flowerpots, vases, hanging flowerpots and water containers were recovered with sprig decoration. The variety of sprigs was quite wide though - seeing that they included various types of leaves, flowers, fruit, classical styles, animals and other types of decoration. Those sprigs did not include the rabbit, bird and rifle found on this humidor, although the type of clay is correct. 

The pottery and archaeological artifacts from this site are now a part of the permanent collection of the Huron County Museum in Goderich, Ontario.

An Outstanding Late 19th Century Earthenware Humidor

Here I am Demonstrating the Small Size of the Earthenware Humidor

Stands 5 1/4" Tall

See Article for More Information

Late 19th Century Earthenware Humidor Possibly Made in Ontario

Retains a History of Ownership in Ontario

Decorated with a Hunting and a Cabin in the Woods Theme

The Decoration is Both Sprig Molded and Hand-Formed

Stands 5 1/4" Tall

See Article for More Information

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

A Seventeenth Century Chest Once Owned by the Osborn Family in Salem Village

While visiting the Peabody Essex Museum yesterday in Salem, Massachusetts with my niece Alexis, we saw the museum's new exhibit The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming, where we were surprised to learn about this seventeenth century chest once owned by the Osborn family of Salem Village, circa 1680-1705. Our interest in this piece was a result of it being related to descendants of these Osborns, who established the well-known red earthenware business in neighboring South Danvers (Peabody), Massachusetts in the 1730s, which was largely influential throughout New England with spinoff family businesses in Peabody, at various locations in New Hampshire and a number of other potteries. The chest is attributed to the shop of James Symonds (1632-1714)  in Salem. 

Interestingly, the chest is documented as having been owned by William and Hannah Osborn, among other family members, although it was William and Hannah's grandson Joseph Osborn who originally established the family red earthenware enterprise in South Danvers, and possibly having trained with his brother Paul at Jonathan Haywayd's pottery in Beverly, Massachusetts.

For more information, see Martha Willoughby's article in the 2000 edition of American Furniture, titled, Patronage in Early Salem: The Symonds Shops and Their Customers.

Also - see my article written for the November 2017 issue of the New England Antiques Journal, titled, Digging Into the Peabody Potteries: Archaeology and Red Earthenware, as well as the book I wrote, The Moses B. Paige Company: The Last of the Peabody Potteries. 

A Seventeenth Century Chest Once Owned by the Osborn Family in Salem Village

A Seventeenth Century Chest Once Owned by the Osborn Family in Salem Village

This is the Same Osborn Family Who Operated a Number of Red Earthenware Potteries

Attributed to the Shop of James Symonds (1632-1717) in Salem, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Historic New England

View of the Exhibit Description that Accompanies the Chest

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Historic New England

View of the Exhibit Description that Accompanies the Chest

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Historic New England

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

Some Great Examples of Early Slipware Manufactured in Norwalk, Connecticut

As I noted the other day - it is thought that some of the fancier slip decorated red earthenware made during the circa 1795-1805 period at the Absalom Day (1770-1843) Pottery in Norwalk, Connecticut was created by John Betts Gregory (1782-1842), who trained under Day before leaving for Long Island and later upstate New York. Furthermore, in 1896, Reverend Charles Melbourne Selleck (1831-1909) wrote Norwalk, "In an attempt to bring the town's history fully to light, and to preserve and to perpetuate its mentions and memoirs. Many of these were gathered by the author while engaged in the necessarily hasty preparation of his 1886 St. Paul's Church centenary address in Norwalk, Connecticut, but most of them have since been collected, and their public presentation upon the eve of the town's quarter-millennial birth anniversary.

John Betts Gregory was born in Norwalk in 1782 to Abraham and Elizabeth Gregory, who lived where the late Henry Marvin resided, on East Avenue, and south of the ancient Beacham Lane. He learned his trade (potter) of Absalom Day (1770-1843) of "Old Well (neighborhood in Norwalk)." After his marriage to Olive (1786-1883), he had a good business offer from Huntington, Long Island, which he accepted. He afterward established a pottery in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, which required a building 140x40 for his operations. He returned in 1831 to Norwalk and bought from Samuel Hanford, Half-Mile Isle, paying $325.00. He there built a kiln for the burning of earthenware and stoneware. The kiln was erected in 1832 by masons Lewis and George Raymond of "Old Well." The business was here kept up until 1840. Mr. Gregory died July 22, 1842."

Nonetheless, these are four great examples of the early Norwalk slipware that were made at the Day Pottery during the circa 1795-1805 period. In fact, there is not a lot of this type of slipware known to exist today with some outstanding examples owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, along with other American art museums and historical societies.

For more information - see Richard Miller's article in the 2016 edition of Ceramics in America, titled, Norwalk (Connecticut) Slip-script Pottery, the Potters, and Related Ware.

And also my article written for the April 9, 2021 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, The Wares Made by John Betts Gregory in Clinton, New York: An Examination of  Empire State Regional Redware.

Some Great Examples of Early Slipware Manufactured in Norwalk, Connecticut

Four Great Examples of Early Slipware Manufactured in Norwalk, Connecticut

Attributed to the Absalom Day Pottery in Norwalk, Connecticut

John Betts Gregory May Have Been Involved with Producing Some of these Pieces

See Article for More Information

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