19th Century Coggle and Three Color Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Plates Likely from Southeastern Pennsylvania

This type of nineteenth century slip decorated red earthenware plate is one of my favorite non-script decorated plates or dishes known from the American Northeast today. There are about four or five of these types of plates known, which are thought to have been made in Southeastern Pennsylvania in the 1800s, whereas one of best examples was found in Bucks County, Pennsylvania many years ago; this example may be the one that is currently privately owned in a prominent Pennsylvania collection that was the subject of a feature story written by Johanna McBrien, titled, Kindred Spirits; it is possible that a second example also came out of the Bucks County area.

19th Century Coggle and Three Color Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Plate

Probably Made in Southeastern Pennsylvania

This is Possibly the One Found in Bucks County, PA in the 1900s

See Article for More InformationPhotos Courtesy: Kindred Spirits Article, Johanna McBrien

Furthermore, one of the plates that has sold in the twenty-first century was owned for many years by Long Island, New York collector Michael Schnall before it sold as part of his major Americana collection at Northeast Auctions in Manchester, New Hampshire on August 2, 2008. Although, it was previously owned as part of the Sekall Collection in Bucks County.

In fact, the red earthenware part of the Schnall collection is one of the most significant single owner collections to come to auction over the last fifty years, where some of those objects have recently resold at Crocker Farm in Maryland for very strong prices. Here are a few examples --

1) Philadelphia Redware Plate, Summer 2023: https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2023-08-04/lot-168/Fine-Philadelphia-Redware-Plate-18th-century/

2) Marbled Redware Jar, Spring 2023: https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2023-03-31/lot-255/Exceptional-New-England-Redware-Jar-w-Profuse-Slip-Decoration-probably-Norwalk-CT/

Nonetheless, the plate owned by Schnall sold again in January of 2022 as part of Ohio antiques dealer David Good’s collection at New Haven Auctions in Connecticut, where it was purchased by the current owner. 

Additionally, there are a few other related plates known that have recently sold at auction; a second example was owned for many years by Robesonia, Pennsylvania potter Lester Breininger, which sold as lot number 733 at Pook & Pook in Pennsylvania on November 11, 2011, and previously came out of an auction near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; a third example just sold as lot number 203 in Crocker Farm's summer 2024 sale, however this may be the second example that was found years ago in Bucks County.

Note: Each of these plates are drape-molded and decorated with three colors of slip and a coggle wheel; I can not recall having seen any other forms decorated with this exact technique outside of this style of circular plate. Are there any other circular examples known today besides the four or five that I referenced?

Update: A second post provides more information about this type of production: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/09/more-information-19th-century-coggle.html.

19th Century Coggle and Three Color Slip Decorated Plates

19th Century Coggle and Three Color Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Plates

Probably Made in Southeastern Pennsylvania

Each Measures Over 11" in Diameter

Some Examples Were Found in Bucks County, PA in the 20th Century

(Right) This Plate was Owned by Lester Breininger

(Middle) This Plate was Owned by Michael Schnall

(Right) This Plate Sold at Crocker Farm in the Summer of 2024

See Article for More Information

Photos Courtesy: Pook & Pook, New Haven Auctions & Crocker Farm

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

A Selection of 19th Century Edgefield, South Carolina Stoneware that Sold at Leland Little Auctions in North Carolina

Additional to yesterday's post about a rare marked circa 1840 slip decorated stoneware jug from Edgefield, South Carolina that just sold, which was recently discovered in a Southern estate, titled, Stoneware Jug Marked "PHOENIX FACTORY / ED : SC," Found in Union County, North Carolina Estate, an excellent selection of Edgefield stoneware also sold last week at Leland Little Auctions in Hillsborough, North Carolina. These objects were consigned from a private collection in Georgia, whereas the highlight of the collection was a stoneware face jug made by an unrecorded potter in Edgefield. Many of the characteristics and the size of this face jug were similar to one that was displayed in the exhibit Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina, which previously sold at Skinner in Boston in 2012 for $56,288 including the buyer's premium. This jug is owned today by the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

According to Skinner, "The jug descended through a Connecticut antiquarian, who collected antiques in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The base of the jug was signed "Aiken, S.C." A late nineteenth or early twentieth century hand-written note was found inside of the jug that was inscribed, "Monkey Jug = made in Bath, S.C. 1862 by negro slaves/Aiken, S.C." 

Furthermore, Stephen Fletcher of Skinner wrote in a 2012 article, "I asked the consignor about her great-grandfather who had collected the jug and written the note. We learned that he had most likely acquired it in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century, just a few decades after the piece was made. The fact that he saw fit to acquire this unique example of an African-American face jug shows a developed aesthetic sensibility. The fact the jug survived all this while undamaged is miraculous."

However, aside from the face jug, my favorite object in the sale was a circa 1840 slip decorated stoneware jug that was attributed to Collin Rhodes at the Phoenix Factory along the Edgefield District's Shaw's Creek. This two-gallon jug was decorated with a floral decoration, where it sold for $8,500 plus the buyer's premium.

For the rest of the pottery in this sale - see the auction catalog: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/341952_decorative-art-auction/.

Note: For more information - see a three-page feature story that I wrote for the October 4, 2019 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, Thomas Chandler's Pottery Production: McKissick Museum of University of South Carolina Holds Innovative Exhibition - https://antiquesandauctionnews.net/articles/Thomas-Chandler%60s-Pottery-Production/.

Also see two articles that I posted to this website about the Hear Me Now exhibit when it was displayed in Manhattan and in Boston --

MET Article: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2022/12/now-on-display-at-met-in-new-york-city.html

MFA, Boston Article: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2023/03/now-on-display-at-mfa-boston-hear-me.html

A Selection of 19th Century Edgefield, South Carolina Stoneware

Selection of 19th Century Edgefield, South Carolina Stoneware

The Pitcher Shown Top Left Could Also be from North Carolina

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Leland Little Auctions

19th Century Stoneware Face Jug Made in South Carolina

Reportedly Made in 1862

Descended Though a CT Antiquarian Until the Jug Sold in 2012

Sold for $56,288 at Skinner in Boston in 2012

Stands 4 1/2" Tall

Owned Today by the Chipstone Foundation in Wisconsin
Photo Courtesy: Skinner, Inc. - Boston & Marlborough, MA

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

Stoneware Jug Marked "PHOENIX FACTORY / ED : SC," Found in Union County, North Carolina Estate

According to the information that accompanied an Edgefield, South Carolina stoneware jar with slip decoration that sold at Crocker Farm in Sparks, Maryland in the Spring of 2024, "The jar in this auction is stamped "PHOENIX FACTORY / ED : SC," which is Edgefield's rarest and most prized maker's mark.  This jar is one of a small number of marked Phoenix Factory stoneware objects known made during the brief partnership of Collin Rhodes and Robert Mathis along Edgefield District's Shaw's Creek." That jar sold for $39,000 including the buyer's premium.

Crocker Farm also cited in that listing an important advertisement for the Phoenix Stone Ware Factory that was published on page 4 in the May 21, 1840 issue of the Phoenix Advertiser (see below). The ad reads, "The subscribers having been engaged in the manufacturing of Stone Ware at Pottersville, in Edgefield, S.C. for many years and from long experience, and former owners of that establishment, have located themselves at the Phoenix Factory, Shaws Creek, twelve miles from Edgefield C. House on the main Road leading from Newberry, Union, and the upper Districts to Aiken, for the purpose of manufacturing Stone Ware in all various branches. They have procured the best of workman and are consistently making up, and have a large stock on hand. Their assortment in the most complete ever before offered for sale in this market, to which they would call the attention of Druggists, Merchants and Planters, and all those who wish to purchase anything in their line. 

Among the many articles of which their stock is composed, are the following: Jars of all sizes. Jugs of all sizes. Churns of all sizes. Bowls or pans of all sizes. Butter Pots of all sizes. Pitchers of all sizes. And lids neatly made for jars and churns if desired. Stew pots of various sizes.

All of the above is inferior to none made in the United States. Orders addressed to us at Edgefield Court House, S.C. will be promptly attended to, and delivered to the Merchant's door, any distance under one hundred and fifty miles. Charleston merchants can have their ware delivered at the depot, in Aiken, at 12 1/2 cents per gallon. The Price at the Factory is 12 1/2 cents per gallon.  -- MATHIS & RHODES"

Furthermore, it was published in Philip Wingard's article in the 2013 issue of Ceramics in America, titled, From Baltimore to the South Carolina Backcountry: Thomas Chandler's Influence on 19th-Century Stoneware, "When Phoenix Factory is created as a partnership at Shaw’s Creek in early 1840 between Robert Mathis and Colin Rhodes, Thomas Chandler becomes the primary turner and decorator of stoneware produced there. When the partnership dissolves in late 1840, Chandler remains at Shaw’s Creek until circa 1844, likely working for Collin Rhodes."

The most significant example of production from this company that survives today is a jug-formed cooler that was made by Chandler, and depicts two African-American figures, bearing the Phoenix Factory stamp, whereas it also ranks among the greatest American ceramic objects known to exist today. This object was included as part of the exhibit, Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina, which was recently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (as well as other museums).

Interestingly, a slip decorated stoneware jug bearing the same maker's mark as the jar that sold earlier this year at Crocker Farm just surfaced in an online-only sale at Hinson's Auction in Oakboro, North Carolina. The jug was recently found in an estate in Union County, North Carolina, where it sold yesterday for $11,250 plus the buyer's premium.

Note: For more information - see a three-page feature story that I wrote for the October 4, 2019 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, Thomas Chandler's Pottery Production: McKissick Museum of University of South Carolina Holds Innovative Exhibition - https://antiquesandauctionnews.net/articles/Thomas-Chandler%60s-Pottery-Production/.

Also see two articles that I posted to this website about the Hear Me Now exhibit when it was displayed in Manhattan and in Boston --

MET Article: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2022/12/now-on-display-at-met-in-new-york-city.html

MFA, Boston Article: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2023/03/now-on-display-at-mfa-boston-hear-me.html

Circa 1840-1842 Stoneware Jug Marked "PHOENIX FACTORY / ED : SC"

19th Century Stoneware Jug Marked "PHOENIX FACTORY / ED : SC"

Recently Found in a Union County, North Carolina Estate

Circa 1840

Stands 14 1/2" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Hinson's Auction

"Phoenix Stone Ware Factory"

Published in the May 21, 1840 issue of the Phoenix Advertiser

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Library of Congress

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

An Early Marked Red Earthenware Pitcher Found Decades Ago in the Jonathan Atkinson House in Limington, Maine

I was thrilled to acquire this historically important red earthenware pitcher yesterday, which is illustrated in my most recent book, titled, From One Town Came Many: The Red Earthenware Industry of Ancient North Yarmouth, Maine. 

This object is important to local history in the area located to the west of Portland, Maine; it was found decades ago hidden in the Jonathan Atkinson (1756-1852) House in Limington, Maine – who moved there in 1794 in order to be the first minister of the Congregational Church. Atkinson was ordained and installed on November 12, 1794. He built the house sometime around the time that he arrived, although he was originally from Newbury, Massachusetts, and was a graduate of Dartmouth College. 

The village church was built in 1792 when the Little Ossipee Plantation was incorporated on February 9, 1792, as the town of Limington, whereas another notable piece of property located a few hundred yards away is the The Libby-MacArthur House, which was built in the eighteenth century and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. Arthur (1790-1874) and Sara MacArthur (1805-1881) and their two children's portraits were painted by Maine artist, Royal Brewster Smith (1801-1855) and are owned today by Historic New England, as part of the Nina Fletcher Little acquisition of Cogswell's Grant in Essex, Massachusetts.

Nonetheless, this pitcher was discovered by Charlie Huntress and his wife in 1975 when they began to restore the Atkinson home. It was found carefully placed beneath floorboards in a crawl space in the northeast parlor. The belief is that it could date no later than 1802-1803 because of a fire that happened during this time; Charlie told me years ago that when he was crawling over the carrying beams to retrieve the pitcher that he could see some partially charred timbers still under the floor.

Furthermore, this is a very early piece of red earthenware from Maine, which is impressed on one side with a seal like impression similar to that seen on early American and European glass. The initials on the impression read “JB,” possibly representing a member of the Bickford family, whereas James Bickford Jr. (1798-1884) operated a successful pottery with his family in nearby Buxton from the 1820s to the 1880s. It is currently a mystery whether James Bickford Sr. (1773-1844) had any involvement with pottery production in this part of Maine, although he lived most/all of his life in York County, Maine. However, this pitcher may have been a presentation object that was given to Atkinson when he arrived in Limington in the 1790s.

Interestingly, located directly next to the Atkinson House is where antiques dealer Bethany Kelly lives; her house was built in the 1790s, and all sorts of evidence of red earthenware production from a kiln has been recovered on the property. But it has not been determined what was exactly happening there. All of this information is published in the Maine book that I cite at the top of this article.

Note: It was previously published that James Bickford Sr. came from Exeter, New Hampshire, which is where the Dodge family ran a red earthenware business in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, although I have found conflicting records that suggest he may have actually been born in Buxton. However, a Dodge family connection to this object found in the Atkinson House would be great!

Pitcher Found Decades Ago in the Jonathan Atkinson House

This is the Jonathan Atkinson House in Limington, Maine

It was Built in the 1790s

See Article for More Information

French Wine Bottle Blob Seal Found on Boston Common

Manufactured For a Winery in Bordeaux, France

Circa 18th or Early 19th Century

Recovered by Archaeologists in the 1980s

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: City of Boston Archaeology Program

Red Earthenware Pitcher Found in the Jonathan Atkinson House in Limington, ME

Impressed with a Seal and the Initials "JB"

Possibly Made in the 1790s

Otherwise Made Before 1802-1803

Stands 6 3/8" Tall

See Article for More Information

A View of the Impressed Seal with the Initials "JB"

See Article for More Information

 A View of Where the Handle was Located

See Article for More Information

A View of the Pouring Spout

See Article for More Information

Another View of the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

A View of the Footed Base

See Article for More Information

A View of the Base

See Article for More Information

Another View of the Seal

See Article for More Information

Another View of the Pitcher

See Article for More Information

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

A Good Selection of Edgefield, South Carolina Stoneware that Sold at Cagle Auction Company in Georgia

Some good examples of nineteenth century stoneware made in Edgefield, South Carolina sold yesterday at Cagle Auction Company in Athens, Georgia, along with other pottery made elsewhere in the South in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Although, the selection of stoneware signed by the enslaved African American potter Dave Drake (ca. 1800-1873) was certainly the most desirable, as well as some unsigned objects also thought to have been made by Drake before the Civil War. 

However, the most significant of the objects signed by Drake was a jug missing its top with a great inscription, reading, "LM October 31st 1857 Dave." This jug sold for $17,000 plus the auction premium: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/184818717_edgefield-south-carolina-signed-lm-oct-31-1857-dave-drake-jug.

Interestingly, some of the objects that were attributed to Drake were inscribed with what appears to be an "X" or a cross, which is also a subject that I posted a story about to this website earlier this year, titled, A 19th Century Edgefield, South Carolina Stoneware Jug Found A Few Years Ago in Cambridge, Massachusetts: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/04/a-19th-century-edgefield-south-carolina.html.

Nevertheless, for more information about production in Edgefield - see two stories that I posted to this website about the exhibit Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina that was recently displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (as well as other museums).

MET Article: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2022/12/now-on-display-at-met-in-new-york-city.html

MFA, Boston Article: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2023/03/now-on-display-at-mfa-boston-hear-me.html

Note: For the rest of the pottery in yesterday's sale - see the auction catalog: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/340483_southern-pottery-and-folk-art-extravaganza/.

A Good Selection of Edgefield, South Carolina Stoneware

Some of the Edgefield, S.C. Stoneware that Sold Yesterday

These Objects are Either Signed or Thought to Have Been Made by Dave Drake

Some of These Objects are Inscribed with What Appears to be a "X" or a Cross

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Cagle Auction Company

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

Two Related 19th Century Red Earthenware Pitchers That Sold Yesterday at Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates in Virginia

I thought this lot sold for a very reasonable price yesterday at Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates in Mount Crawford, Virginia, selling for just $40 plus the auction premium. The lot consisted of seven different objects.

However, what really caught my attention were the pair of related nineteenth century red earthenware pitchers, whereas this type of pitcher has been somewhat of a mystery through the years with the manganese decoration applied upside down on every object that I have seen, which includes one pitcher that sold in the Kelly Young Collection at Crocker Farm in January 2010: https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2010-01-30/lot-111/Glazed-Redware-Pitcher/.

Nevertheless, I posted a story to this website back in 2015 based on information that was shared by Long Island collector and Ceramics in America contributing writer Anthony Butera Jr., which seems to identify the origin of these types of objects. That information came from an article written by Jeannette Lasansky for the October 1990 issue of The Magazine Antiques titled, Pennsylvania Pottery in Berks County Collections, which illustrated a related nineteenth century red earthenware noggin decorated with the same type of glaze; Lasansky identified the object as having been produced in southeastern Pennsylvania during the circa 1800-1850 period.

Note: For the rest of the pottery in yesterday's sale - see the auction catalog: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/341128_summer-americana-day-four/.

Two Related 19th Century Red Earthenware Pitchers

(Right) Pair of 19th Century Red Earthenware Pitchers with Manganese Decoration

Probably Made in Southeastern Pennsylvania

Probably Circa 1800-1850

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates

Additional Pictures of the Pitchers

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Nathan Fisher

19th Century Red Earthenware Noggin Probably Made in Southeastern Pennsylvania

This Object is Related to the Pitchers Shown Above

Circa 1800-1850

Stands 5 1/2" Tall

Photo Courtesy: The Magazine Antiques

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

Forthcoming New Hampshire Book - An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses

Just an update for anyone anticipating my forthcoming eighth book, titled, An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses - I finished the book today and it will be heading to print soon for a proof copy followed by its publication. I am anticipating a fall 2024 release date. The book runs 685 pages; the book covers red earthenware production from the early 1700s through some of the twentieth century studio pottery movement in New Hampshire. Stoneware is also discussed, such as some of the wares produced in New Hampshire, as well as a wide variety of stoneware and red earthenware that was imported to the state, along with some red earthenware production from other states in New England; plus a lot more!

Forthcoming New Hampshire Book

An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses

Runs 685 Pages

Anticipating a Fall 2024 Release Date

See Above for More Information

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