New Published Feature Story in Antiques & Auction News: A Century Of Red Earthenware And Stoneware Production In Huntingdon County, Pa., Ca. 1811-1912

This is the print version of my latest feature story published on pages 7, 8 and 10 in the December 6, 2024 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, A Century Of Red Earthenware And Stoneware Production In Huntingdon County, Pa., Ca. 1811-1912.

Link to a PDF of Page 7: https://www.scribd.com/document/800679160/ant-007-120624-Huntingdon-1

Link to a PDF of Page 8: https://www.scribd.com/document/800679831/ant-008-120624-Huntingdon-2

Link to a PDF of Page 10: https://www.scribd.com/document/800680269/ant-010-120624-Huntingdon-3

New Published Feature Story in Antiques & Auction News

 December 6, 2024 Issue of Antiques & Auction News

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New Published Feature Story in Antiques & Auction News

Published in the December 6, 2024 Issue

This is Page 7

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New Published Feature Story in Antiques & Auction News

Published in the December 6, 2024 Issue

This is Page 8

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New Published Feature Story in Antiques & Auction News

Published in the December 6, 2024 Issue

This is Page 10

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

A 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Rundlet that Sold Tonight in Indiana

The colors did not seem to be as pronounced based on the online pictures, although it appears that another two-color slip decorated red earthenware object perhaps related to some Bristol County, Massachusetts red earthenware may have been identified, otherwise it is from another location. The previous known objects include a jug that I believe is the best known example which is pictured on the back cover of my fifth book, titled, A Celebrated Industry: The Historic Wares of Southeastern Massachusetts, Bristol County and Cape Cod: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-celebrated-industry-the-historic-wares-of-southeastern-massachusetts-bristol-county-and-cape-cod/.

The other object is a pitcher that is also illustrated in the book, which just sold as part of the Walter and Jeannette Smith Collection of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania at Pook & Pook in Downington, Pennsylvania this past September for $17,500 plus the buyer's premium: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/09/the-walter-and-jeannette-smith.html.

Additionally, there is also a second jug known, however it lacks the slip decoration; but this rundlet seems like it could be related selling tonight at Crowded House Auctions in Mooresville, Indiana for $1,200 plus the buyer's premium: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/190402385_1860s-redware-water-canteen-civil-war-era. It is also good to see this type of production recognized at auction!

Note: There will be more information about this auction that I will post tomorrow!

Update: Based on pictures of a related rundlet in excellent condition that I just saw from a private Pennsylvania collection - this rundlet may actually not be related to the jug and pitcher shown below. However, it is certainly interesting to see the comparison with the use of glaze and slip colors.

A 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Rundlet

Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Rundlet

Made in the American Northeast

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Crowded House Auctions

A Celebrated Industry: The Historic Wares of Southeastern Massachusetts, Bristol County and Cape Cod

Back Cover Shows a Jug Most Likely from Bristol County, Mass.

The Form of the Jug is a Bristol County Form

See Article for More Information

Link to Purchase Book: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-celebrated-industry-the-historic-wares-of-southeastern-massachusetts-bristol-county-and-cape-cod/

Late 18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Pitcher

Most Likely Made in Bristol County, Mass.

The Form of the Pitcher is a Bristol County Form

The Lid is Likely Original

Stands 8" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Pook & Pook

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

A Photograph of a 19th Century Charcoal Kiln in Loudon, New Hampshire

This is a really great photograph that I came across a while back in the collection of the Loudon, New Hampshire Historical Society and Museum, which will be included in my forthcoming 700-page New Hampshire book, titled, An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses; this 19th century charcoal kiln no longer stands, although it was located at the north entrance of Josiah Bartlett Road in Loudon. The Osborn family operated a red earthenware business in Loudon, whereas I do not believe this image has previously been published.

Is there any evidence that pottery kilns were powered in New England with charcoal in the eighteenth or nineteenth century? To my knowledge wood was only used before the Industrial Revolution.

A Photograph of a 19th Century Charcoal Kiln in Loudon, N.H.

19th Century Charcoal Kiln in Loudon, New Hampshire

The Osborns Operated a Red Earthenware Business in Loudon

See Above for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Loudon Historical Society and Museum

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

19th Century Cowden & Wilcox Stoneware Jug Decorated in Cobalt with Man-in-the-Moon Motif Sells at a Goodwill Store in Virginia

While visiting Antiques Week in New Hampshire in August, I had a conversation at one of the shows with Crocker Farm about the current demand for the man-in-the-moon motif on nineteenth century cobalt decorated stoneware. It is a type of decoration that is predominantly from central Pennsylvania that seems to always be in-demand. The decorator for many of these objects is believed to be Shem Thomas, a potter who was originally trained by Thompson Harrington of Lyons, New York.

Nevertheless, this nineteenth century stoneware jug with a very good cobalt decoration that depicts the man-in-the-moon motif, stamped "COWDEN & WILCOX / HARRISBURG, PA," just sold in an online auction at the Goodwill store in Fredericksburg, Virginia: https://shopgoodwill.com/item/216751243. Bidding for the jug began at $25.00, eventually selling for $3,660.

Prices vary for this type of production in Pennsylvania with multiple stoneware manufacturers creating this type of cobalt figure, although the examples made in Harrisburg are quite desirable with what I believe is the highest amount paid being a batter pail decorated with three man-in-the-moon motifs; that object sold at Crocker Farm in Sparks, Maryland in the spring of 2023 for $54,000 including the buyer's premium: https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2023-03-31/lot-21/Exceedingly-Rare-and-Important-COWDEN-WILCOX-HARRISBURG-PA-Triple-Man-in-the-Moon-Batter-Pail/.

For a brief history of this business: John Wallace Cowden (1817-1872) and Isaac Wilcox (1831-1906) initially established and ran this pottery in Harrisburg, although the company was also known as C.W. Pottery. The factory was a ceramic manufacturing company that was established in 1861, after Harrisburg was incorporated as a city on March 19, 1860, whereas the factory produced pottery until about 1923. This business mostly produced stoneware, but they also made some red earthenware, where production from this company was distributed locally, although it was also marketed in parts of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

Furthermore, a Cowden & Wilcox stoneware crock decorated with a deer in cobalt sold earlier this fall for $54,000 plus buyer's premium at Conestoga Auctions in Pennsylvania: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/09/circa-1865-cowden-wilcox-stoneware.html.

The deer crock may have been the second most expensive piece of stoneware from this manufacturer to sell at auction, where the auction record is a jug made by Cowden and Wilcox decorated with a Civil War soldier in cobalt, which sold at Crocker Farm in October of 2014 for $97,500 including the buyer's premium: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/09/a-19th-century-two-gallon-stoneware-jug.html.

Another example of stoneware from Harrisburg, stamped "WM. MOYER / HARRISBURG PA," set an auction record for Pennsylvania stoneware at Crocker Farm in the spring of 2022 when it sold for $144,000 including the buyer's premium: https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2022-04-08/lot-37/Exceedingly-Rare-and-Important-WM-MOYER-HARRISBURG-PA-Stoneware-Pedestal-Water-Cooler/.

Note: Some of the other stoneware manufacturers who produced objects in the 1800s with the man-in-the-moon motif include Ottman Bros. & Company in Fort Edward, New York, Evan R. Jones in Pittston, Pennsylvania and at Michael and Theophilus Miller, Jr.'s pottery in Newport, Pennsylvania. However, it is unclear who decorated these objects, seeing there is no documented information of Shem Thomas working at these companies, and it may just be a result of competitors copying a popular design, which still remains in-demand with collectors today.

Update: There is a collector inquiring about this jug should whoever have purchased it be reading this post! Feel free to contact me.

Cowden & Wilcox Stoneware Jug Decorated in Cobalt with Man-in-the-Moon

19th Century Stoneware Crock Made in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Stamped "COWDEN & WILCOX / HARRISBURG, PA"

Decorated in Cobalt with a Man-in-the-Moon Motif

Circa 1865

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Goodwill / Fredericksburg, Virginia

Additional Views of the Jug

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Photo Courtesy: Goodwill / Fredericksburg, Virginia

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

A Late 18th or 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Owned for the Past 50 Years in the Fingerlakes Region in New York

Of all places, this was an unexpected find on Facebook Marketplace yesterday, a spot that I have never found any red earthenware before, although I look every now and again because you never know what may pop up in the most unlikeliness of places. 

Nevertheless, I just spoke with the seller on the phone, James Briggs Sr., who is a lifelong antiques dealer in the Fingerlakes Region in New York, whereas he told me that this late eighteenth or nineteenth century red earthenware jar is an object that he has owned for the last fifty or so years. It is also an object that he likely found locally in the Fingerlakes or Western New York area.

Interestingly, the reason I initially inquired about this red earthenware jar is because I recognize the form as a type produced by the Clark family in New Hampshire, which was most likely made at a business owned by either Captain Peter Clark (1743-1826) or one of his sons in Lyndeborough, Francistown or Orford, New Hampshire during the circa 1775-1850s period. There was also a son who ran a business in Brownington, Vermont during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century period, as well as another son who worked in Concord, New Hampshire, but I have not found any evidence that either of those sons produced this shape of jar.

Furthermore, the proof copy is not back yet from the printer so I will also be able to include this jar in my forthcoming eighth book, titled, An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses.

Red Earthenware Jar Owned for Decades in the Fingerlakes Region in N.Y.

Late 18th or Early 19th Century Red Earthenware Jar Most Likely Made in New Hampshire

Most Likely Made by a Member of the Clark Family

Stands 8" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: James Briggs Sr.

A View of the Interior

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Photo Courtesy: James Briggs Sr.

A View of the Base

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Photo Courtesy: James Briggs Sr.

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

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Flowerpot that Sold Yesterday at Briggs Auction in Pennsylvania

There have been some strong sales in the past week for nineteenth century red earthenware flowerpots, including one that sold last weekend at Amelia Jeffers auction in Ohio for $4,200, which was possibly made in Warren County, Ohio. 

Yesterday, a vibrant multicolored red earthenware flowerpot in excellent condition most likely made somewhere in Pennsylvania brought $2,800 plus the auction premium at Briggs Auction in Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania. The flowerpot was consigned as part of a private collection of pottery from a local collection.

The manufacturer of this object is unknown to me, although the use of the glaze colors does remind me of some of the red earthenware that was produced in Allentown, Pennsylvania, which is located to the northwest of Philadelphia. There were also a number of flowerpots made in Allentown.

However, flowerpots were made throughout eastern Pennsylvania in the 1800s so I cannot say for sure where this object was made. This type of garden pottery became a primary type of production for many potters in the latter part of the 1800s, although I have found that based on archaeological evidence that American potters were producing flowerpots as early as the period that predates the American Revolution. 

For more information - see a three-page cover story I wrote for the July 26, 2024 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, A Collection Of Pottery That Descended In The Bach Family Of Allentown, Pa.: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/07/new-published-cover-story-in-antiques.html.

A 19th Century Red Earthenware Flowerpot  that Sold Yesterday

19th Century Multicolor Glazed Red Earthenware Flowerpot

Most Likely from Pennsylvania

Stands 6" Tall

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Photo Courtesy: Briggs Auction

Additional Views of the Flowerpot

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Photo Courtesy: Briggs Auction

A Collection Of Pottery That Descended In The Bach Family Of Allentown, Pa.

Published in the July 26, 2024 Issue of Antiques & Auction News

See Article for More Information

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

A 19th Century Recumbent Red Earthenware Lion that Sold Today at Briggs Auction in Pennsylvania

A good selection of red earthenware sold today at Briggs Auction in Garnet Valley, Pennsylvania, although a few objects really stood out to me from the rest, including a nineteenth century figure of a recumbent lion. The style of this lion is similar to some lions owned by the Philadelphia Museum of Art that are said to have been made at the Thomas Haig Pottery in Philadelphia.

However, there are clear differences in the form, but this lion also shares some similarities to one owned by the Wadsworth Athenuem Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth acquired their example from the collection of Albert Hastings Pitkin (1852-1913), who was a native and lifelong resident of Hartford and 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.

According to the Wadsworth Atheneum, "These red earthenware lions offer a fascinating comparison of press-molding and free-hand sculpture. John Sanders sculpted the alert lion (left) from a block of clay, where excess clay was cut away to create the figure. The sleeping lion (right) was formed in a mold in which clay was pressed. The alert lion bears a roughness and unevenness indicative of potter's tools, while the sleeping lion has much softer modeling and evenness in its texture, hinting at the uniformity of mold impressions."

Furthermore, the sculpted lion was also painted in 1937 by artist John Matulis (1910-2000) as part of the Index of American Design for the National Gallery of Art at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. This lion was signed "John Sanders" and dated 1817, although I have not been able to determine any other information about the career of Sanders: https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.20482.html.

Nevertheless, the group lot consisting of the lion with the two nineteenth century flowerpots sold today for $300 plus the buyer's premium.

For the rest of the pottery in today's sale - see the auction catalog: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/352667_december-6-fine-estates-auction/.

Note: Here is a link to a story that I posted to this website in the winter of 2023 about a nineteenth century red earthenware lion that I found near Portland, Maine, which I thought may have been made in Philadelphia, although it also closely resembles the example owned by the Wadsworth Atheneum: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2023/02/a-red-earthenware-lion-found-yesterday.html.

For more information about Albert Hastings Pitkin - see a feature story I wrote for the April 12, 2019 issue of Antiques & Auctions News, titled, The Albert Hastings Pitkin Collection: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2019/05/the-albert-hastings-pitkin-collection.html.

19th Century Recumbent Red Earthenware Lion

19th Century Molded American Red Earthenware Lion

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Briggs Auction

(Left) 19th Century Hand-Sculpted Red Earthenware Lion

Signed "John Sanders 1817"

(Right) 19th Century Molded Red Earthenware Lion

Reportedly Made by John Sanders in Connecticut

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Photo Courtesy: Wadsworth Antheneum Museum of Art

The Lion Shown Above was Painted in 1937

This from the Index of American Design at the Smithsonian Institute

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Photo Courtesy: National Gallery of Art

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