Latest Published Research Story - Heber C. Kimball: A Mormon Potter from Western New York

For those of you who have not seen the latest issue of Maine Antique Digest - I just wanted to pass along that my latest research story is published on pages 138-141 in the April 2022 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, Heber C. Kimball: A Mormon Potter from Western New York. 

This article tells the story of Heber Kimball the potter, who later went on to become a major figure in the founding of the Mormon Church. And while the majority of Kimball's life is well known today, it has been his career as an everyday utilitarian red earthenware potter that has been largely overlooked through the years. This story took a number of years to put together, while working with The Church History of Jesus Christ of Latter-Days Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as other museums and collectors from across the country.

Here is a link to read the online version of this story: https://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/heber-c-kimball-a-mormon-potter-from-western-new-york/8732

Here is a link to read a PDF of the printed version of this story: https://www.scribd.com/document/567109979/Herbert-Kimball-Feature-MAD-April-2022-Issue

Latest Published Research Story - Heber C. Kimball: A Mormon Potter from Western New York

Latest Published Research Story - Heber C. Kimball: A Mormon Potter from Western New York

Published in the April 2022 Issue of Maine Antique Digest

See Article for More Information

Latest Published Research Story - Heber C. Kimball: A Mormon Potter from Western New York

Published in the April 2022 Issue of Maine Antique Digest

See Article for More Information

Latest Published Research Story - Heber C. Kimball: A Mormon Potter from Western New York

Published in the April 2022 Issue of Maine Antique Digest

See Article for More Information

Latest Published Research Story - Heber C. Kimball: A Mormon Potter from Western New York

Published in the April 2022 Issue of Maine Antique Digest

See Article for More Information

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

A Red Earthenware Candlestick Manufactured in Western New York in the 1800s

As I noted in a story I posted to this website last week about a nineteenth century red earthenware candlestick that sold in western New York: "There are not too many American red earthenware candlesticks known like this today, and among the places in New York where it is documented that candlesticks were made was at Carl Mehwaldt's (1809-1887) Pottery in Bergholz, Niagara County, New York."

In fact, this is an example of Mehwaldt's candlestick production, which is consider quite rare today; it is probably related to archaeological evidence recovered at the site of the pottery, now kept at the Das Haus Museum in Niagara Falls, New York. The glaze on this object is a style often produced by Mehwaldt on such objects as pitchers and jars, and it can be found on some pieces owned by the New York State Museum in Albany, New York.

As I mentioned in last week's story - the form of this candlestick appears to have been inspired by styles manufactured at various glass factories in America, circa 1840 or thereabouts. And based on that information, it is probably safe to say that this piece dates from the circa 1850-1880 period.

For more information about Carl Mehwaldt, I suggest a research story I wrote that was published in the October 15, 2021 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, Carl Mehwaldt: A Pioneer German-American Potter And 19th-Century Immigrant.

A Red Earthenware Candlestick Manufactured in Western New York in the 1800s

19th Century Red Earthenware Candlestick Manufactured in Western New York

Attributed to Carl Mehwaldt's Pottery in Berkholz, Niagara County, New York

Most Likely Inspired After a Glass Form

Most Likely Circa 1850-1880

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Gene Pratt

Another View of the Candlestick

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Gene Pratt

View of the Base

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Gene Pratt

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

A Historically Significant Red Earthenware Jug Manufactured in Southwestern New Hampshire

The small area of Chesham Village in New Hampshire materialized into a red earthenware industry in the 1800s, which is located in the southwestern part of the state, near where the borders of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Vermont all meet. It is an industry that is not entirely understood today, although very significant into the history and progression of red earthenware manufactured in a country New England setting. 

This industry in Chesham Village, also known as "Pottersville" was found in the town of Marlborough and Dublin; the names Bennett, Clark, Felton, Fitch, Furber, Greenwood, Metcalf, Russell, Sargeant, Smith and Wight were all involved with this industry. In fact, the Southwick family of potters from South Danvers (Peabody after 1855), Massachusetts were also involved with production in Chesham Village. The Southwick potters were descendants of Lawrence (1598-1660) and Cassandra Southwick (1598-1660), who were persecuted for their Quaker faith in Salem, Massachusetts in the seventeenth century.

Nevertheless, I have been admiring this giant green glazed red earthenware jug for a few days now that I just acquired, which is attributed to Chesham Village in the 1840s or 1850s, based on extant museum and published objects, and I think this may very well be the most significant surviving red earthenware jug known from New Hampshire today. I have never seen anything like it before - and I know that's a bold statement, but this piece embodies so much more of a history than the typical glazed utilitarian wares produced throughout the state in the 1700s and 1800s. 

The form of this likely two gallon fourteen inch tall jug was manufactured to imitate stoneware, which was prevalent in places like Vermont and New York during this period. And then the spectacular green copper oxide glaze certainly adds an aesthetic appeal. Interestingly, the use of green glazes in Chesham Village may have only been second in abundance in New England during the period to the wares made in Bristol County, Massachusetts, circa 1780-1830.

I also want to add that I compare the significance, idea, history, glaze, form and size of this jug in New Hampshire, to a much better known red earthenware jug made by Lorenzo Johnson in Newstead, Erie County, New York, circa 1850. This jug has been published and was previously owned by New York archaeologist and museum specialist George R. Hamell. I think the idea behind these jugs is very similar, and the Johnson jug is considered to be one of the more important pieces of Western New York stoneware known today.

According to the exhibit catalog, Clay in the Hands of the Potter: An Exhibition of Pottery Manufactured in the Rochester and Genesee Valley Region, Circa 1793-1900, which was published by the Rochester Museum and Science Center in 1974, "Lorenzo Johnson operated a lead-glazed earthenware pottery in the extreme southwestern corner of the Town of Newstead as early as 1850. By 1866 he was producing both red earthenware and drain tile. Sometime after 1880, but before 1887, he moved a few miles south to Mill Grove, Erie County where he was active in another pottery operation.

Among the potters who may have worked for Johnson at Newstead was James Banford. Banford resided in Newstead, circa 1854-1859. He had previously operated a red earthenware pottery in the Village of Avon, Livingston County, and prior to that he had been a resident of West Bloomfield.

From extant examples of Johnson's wares and from sherds collected from the pottery site, we can see that in at least some of his production, Johnson was obviously attempting to imitate stoneware in form, glaze color and decoration. His use of a blue slip floral decoration is a trait also shared by a couple of Ontario, Canada earthenware potters. Records do suggest that Johnson may have been a resident of Canada in the late-1840s, which was previous to his employment in western New York as a potter beginning around 1850."

Note: For more information about the industry in Chesham Village in New Hampshire - a research story I have written about a specific potter who worked there named Abner Smith Wight (1822-1905) should be out sometime in Maine Antique Digest. Although, Wight also had a significant impact with production in West Sterling, Worcester County, Massaschuetts, as well as Keene, New Hampshire, which is not far from Chesham Village.

A Red Earthenware Jug Made in the Form of Stoneware in SW New Hampshire

A Historical Significant 19th Century Green Glazed Red Earthenware Jug

Attributed to Chesham Village in Southwestern New Hampshire

The Form was Made to Imitate Stoneware

Circa 1840s-1850s

Stands 14" Tall

The Size of the Jug is Also in Keeping with a Two Gallon Stoneware Jug

Stands 14" Tall

See Article for More Information

Another View of the Jug

See Article for More Information=

View of the Handle

See Article for More Information

A Red Earthenware Jug Made to Imitate Stoneware in Western New York

 19th Century Lead Glazed Earthenware Jug

Made by Lorenzo Johnson in Newstead, Erie County, NY

Stamped "L. JOHNSON"

Designed to Resemble Stoneware Production of the Period

Circa 1850

Stands 9" Tall

See Article for More Information

 Photo Courtesy: Cottone Auctions

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

19th Century Red Earthenware Ring Bottles or Rum Rings Manufactured in Northern New England

A longtime New England collector of Maine red earthenware Dr. Brian Mills recently shared this wonderful nineteenth century ring bottle or rum ring with me from his personal collection, which is thought to have been made in northern New England, most likely in Maine or New Hampshire. Although, red earthenware ring bottles were manufactured all over the eastern American seaboard, including outstanding examples from North Carolina and Tennessee displayed in the William and Susan Mariner Gallery at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Interestingly, I actually purchased a somewhat similar ring bottle nearly ten years ago; however, I have not been able to determine its American origin, but it also may be a northern New England piece.

Nonetheless, Cornelius Weygandt (1871-1957), an English professor at the University of Pennsylvania and an author, wrote the book November Rowen: A Late Harvest From the Hills of New Hampshire in 1941; on page 272, he wrote, "I had heard much talk, from my first summering in Sandwich (New Hampshire), of the encouragement that rum gave to the harvesters in old time, but hard cider had driven out rum by the time I came along to observe men and manners in our hill town. I heard of the rum ring, a hollow tube of redware pottery slung over the shoulder by a strap, and I finally secured one down by Boscowan (New Hampshire)."

For more information about the eighteenth and nineteenth century red earthenware industry in the Concord and Boscowan area, I recommend a research story I wrote for the June 2021 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, The Red Earthenware Industry in Concord, New Hampshire.

19th Century Ring Flask or Rum Ring Manufactured in Northern New England

19th Century Northern New England Red Earthenware Ring Bottle or Rum Ring

Probably Made in Maine But New Hampshire is Also a Possibility

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Dr. Brian Mills

Another View of the Ring Bottle or Rum Ring

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Dr. Brian Mills

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

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Candlestick that Sold Last Week in Western New York

I don't know how many of you reading this post are familiar with Ron Korman's weekly email list at Muleskinner Antiques in Snyder, New York, but it is definitely worth signing up for seeing that it includes a unique weekly one bid auction that happens every Thursday to Friday. The format of the auction is based on an email that is sent out with that week's offerings and you can reply to the email, where you are aloud one single bid and each object sells to the person who leaves the highest bid. 

For example, last week's auction included this wonderful nineteenth century red earthenware candlestick that retains a history of ownership in Western New York; in fact, it is thought that this is possibly a piece made in New York, as well. But I also would not rule out a place like Pennsylvania for its origin.

There are not too many American red earthenware candlesticks known like this today, and among the places in New York where it is documented that candlesticks were made was at Carl Mehwaldt's (1809-1887) Pottery in Bergholz, Niagara County, New York. 

The most prominent example of an American red earthenware candlestick is most likely one that was made about 1880 by Anthony Baecher (1824-1889) in Winchester, Virginia. That special candlestick sold for $60,000 plus the auction premiums at Pook & Pook Inc. in Downington, Pennsylvania in 2014. The reason it commanded such a strong price was a result of it being stamped three times on the underside "Baecher Winchester VA," as well as being regarded as the only known example of that hand-crafted form.

Interestingly, the form of this candlestick appears to have been inspired by styles manufactured at various glass factories in America, circa 1840 or thereabouts. And based on that information, it is probably safe to say that this piece dates from the circa 1840-1880 period. It is also adorned in a very attractive glaze.

Nevertheless, for more information about Carl Mehwaldt, I suggest a research story I wrote that was published in the October 15, 2021 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, Carl Mehwaldt: A Pioneer German-American Potter And 19th-Century Immigrant.

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Candlestick

19th Century Red Earthenware Candlestick Possibly Made in New York or Pennsylvania

Most Likely Inspired After a Glass Form

Most Likely Circa 1840-1880

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Ron Korman - Muleskinner Antiques

Another View of the Candlestick

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Ron Korman - Muleskinner Antiques

Another View of the Candlestick

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Ron Korman - Muleskinner Antiques

View of the Base

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Ron Korman - Muleskinner Antiques

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

An Outstanding 19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher Acquired Yesterday that was Made in Maine

Shown to the right in these first two photos is an extremely rare nineteenth century red earthenware pitcher that I acquired yesterday in Hampton, New Hampshire from Lunenburg, Massachusetts antiques dealer Mark Brightman. It was previously owned privately for decades in Maine.

These type of pitchers as well as related glazed jars have been attributed for years to the Thomas Truxton Kendrick Pottery (1803-1878) in Hollis, Maine; whereas, I have not found any published, documented or archaeological evidence to support this attribution. Instead, it appears to be an attribution that began with a collector's exhibit of Maine made red earthenware that was assembled by the Maine State Museum in the 1970s. It was then later published in the exhibit catalog. 

However, current research has found that this type of production was more likely manufactured by the Dodges in Portland, Maine, circa 1800-1840. This is only the third pitcher that I have seen like this in a museum or private collection. In fact, the other two pitchers with matching lids were purchased together a few years ago at an auction in Falmouth, Maine by Gray, Maine antiques dealer Robert Foley; they also both retained a local history of ownership in Falmouth, which is located just to the north of Portland.

Nonetheless, shown to the left in these photos is another outstanding pitcher that I found a few years ago while visiting the Mid-Coast of Maine with my niece Alexis. We discovered the pitcher in a small vintage decorative shop in Camden, Maine. And while the forms are obviously quite different, both of these pitchers are manufactured with the same amount of refinement and very similar glazes. But I am hesitant to say they were produced at the same pottery seeing that there was a lot of crossover with the glazes produced throughout Maine in the 1800s.

For more information, I recommend an article I wrote for the February 2018 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, The Dodges and Their Potteries.

An Outstanding 19th C. Red Earthenware Pitcher Acquired Yesterday that was Made in Maine

(Right) 19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher Attributed to Maine

Possibly Made at the Dodge Pottery in Portland, Maine

Probably Circa 1800-1840

Stands 5" Tall

See Article for More Information

(Right) Another View of the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

My Niece Alexis Moments After we Found this Red Earthenware Pitcher in Camden, Maine

See Article for More Information

19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher Probably Made in Maine

Found a Few Years Ago in a Vintage Shop in Camden, ME

Stands 5 1/2" Tall

See Article for More Information

 Another View of the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

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

A Stoneware Merchant Frog Mug Made at the Kirkpatrick Brothers Pottery in Anna, Illinois that is Owned by the New York Historical Society

I am not positive whether this piece of nineteenth century stoneware made at the Kirkpatrick brothers pottery in Anna, Illinois is well known today, which is owned by the New York Historical Society in Manhattan; although, the museum owns a much better known temperance snake jug that was also made by the Kirkpatrick brothers for cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840-1902) in 1871. I actually consider this jug to be among the best pieces of American pottery in existence today; the jug was made for Nast in his efforts in exposing the political corruption at Tammany Hall in New York City in the 1800s.

Nonetheless, this mug with a frog on the interior was an unknown object for me at least until recently after learning that it was purchased by the museum as part of the Elie Nadelman (1882-1946) Collection in 1937. The mug is inscribed "Mark Parsons & Co / Dealers in / Queensware China Glassware / Cedar ware and Stoneware / 103 Ohio Levee Cairo illl."

Cairo, Illinois is located about thirty-five miles south of Anna, and it is where the Mississippi River meets the Ohio River. Similar products can also be found on stoneware advertising found with merchants in places like New York City and Philadelphia in the 1800s.

According to the New York Historical Society, "The avante-garde scultpor Elie Nadelman is widely recognized for his elegant, modernist works. Less familiar is the pioneering folk art collection he established with his wife, Viola Spiess Flannery (1878-1962), an impressive trove of some 15,000 objects that was purchased by the New York Historical Society in 1937. Influenced by the peasant arts of his native Poland and other European countries, Nadelman began collecting after immigrating to New York City in 1914."

Furthermore, Ellen Paul Denker wrote an article for Northeast Historical Archaeology in 1980, titled The Kirkpatrick's Pottery: Anna, Illinois: "Between 1859 and 1896, the brothers Cornwall (1814-1890) and Wallace Kirkpatrick (1826-1896) built and operated a large stoneware pottery in Anna, Union County, Illinois. 

In November of 1859, the brothers fired their first kiln of wares in Anna, which was a new town, where (land) lots were still cheap, and it was along the Illinois Central Railroad right-of-way. The population of Anna today is a little more than 4,000 people.

The Kirkpatricks employed master potters who worked well - and quickly paid them on a piece work basis. Some potters earned as much as $18 to $30 per week. The business produced pipes, churns, crocks, jugs, plates, drainage tile, funnels for chimney tops, pitchers, milk pans, fruit jars, firebrick, flower and cemetery urns, buckets, funnels for filling canning jars, window sills, arches, mullions and roof tiles for buildings. The pottery they produced was indeed (reportedly), "equal, in every respect, to the celebrated Ohio stoneware (from the same period)." Few of their wares were marked which makes these wares difficult to distinguish from other high quality midwestern stoneware of the second-half of the 19th century (today).

The primary distribution area for their goods was within a 100 mile radius of Anna. Newspaper reports indicate that they also shipped stoneware to St. Louis, New Orleans, and New York.

In addition to their utilitarian wares (mentioned above), the Kirkpatrick's produced a number of stock novelties to promote the Anna Pottery at local and regional fairs. Because these were as much advertising as souvenirs, they were often marked and occasionally dated. 

Miniature jugs, log cabins and impressive pioneer farms were part of this output. One of the strongest strains running through the 19th century (and, Victorian Era) was nostalgia. With Wallace, nostalgia took the form of sweet memories of his rural childhood in northern Illinois. As an extension of his passion for modeling figures, he began filling his yard with "scenics" that especially involved snakes and log cabins. These early attempts expanded quickly into a large, but portable, arrangement of various figures which he carried to fairs and exhibitions as an attraction.

Animals, birds and reptiles appear often in the brother's work, including dog figures, owl whistles, mugs with frogs in the bottom to surprise the drinker, shell-shaped inkwells with frogs perched on top, and little brown jugs with snake handles.

Wallace also made large commemorative urns and jugs for exhibit and fairs. These were laboriously inscribed with the names of county officers, fair officials and other prominent citizens. They all have a grey salt-glazed stoneware body with incising filled with cobalt blue.

The Kirkpatrick's most dramatic contribution to American folk sculpture lies in the bizarre snake jugs made between 1860 and 1885. Most of the snake jugs also have a bearded head emerging from the front shoulder, sometimes the arms and shoulders of the man are also included. The temperance theme are quite explicit on these jugs. The configuration of snakes, frogs, spiders, lizards, and so forth suggest the drunkard's dream or delirium.

The pig bottles produced at the Anna Pottery are extremely complex artifacts (and, probably what the pottery is most-known for today). They were reportedly made in the thousands, many survive today, enough to suggest their range in variety and purpose when originally made. The Kirkpatricks began producing them at least as early as 1869 and made them at least as late as 1893. The classic pig form (metaphor in respect to the midwest economy) is in stoneware covered in an Albany slip with a design usually scratched into it. A number of the pig bottles are decorated with incised railroad tracks, which represent the routes of the railroads that crisscrossed in Illinois in the second-half of the nineteenth-century."

A Stoneware Merchant Frog Mug Made at the Kirkpatrick Brothers Pottery in Anna, Illinois

A Stoneware Merchant Frog Mug Made at the Kirkpatrick Brothers Pottery in Anna, Illinois

Circa 1885

Measures  3 1/4" x 5 1/2" x 4"

Inscribed "Mark Parsons & Co / Dealers in / Queensware China Glassware / Cedar ware and Stoneware / 103 Ohio Levee Cairo illl."

Included as Part of the Elie Nadelman Collection

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: New York Historical Society

View of the Frog

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: New York Historical Society

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