A 19th Century Stoneware Crock from Hartford, CT Marked "Goodwin & Webster" Available in Massachusetts

This is a very nice nineteenth century stoneware crock from Hartford, Connecticut that is currently available in Massachusetts. The crock is stamped "Goodwin & Webster."

For a brief history: The firm of Horace Goodwin and Mack C. Webster was formed about 1810 when they acquired a pottery shop originally built by John Souter and later owned by Peter Cross on the corner of Potter and Front Streets in Hartford, Connecticut. However, by the early 1830s, the duo operated two Front Street potteries and built a reputation for successful stoneware manufacturing. They supplied not only local demand but also established warehouses in Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, although the company also had ties to North Carolina. These warehouses served as hubs to supply coastal towns throughout New England. The partnership ended around 1840 when Horace Goodwin left the firm. Mack C. Webster continued the business with his son, Charles T. Webster, under the name M. C. Webster & Son until his death in 1857.

This is a particularly nice example of a circa 1830 stoneware crock made at the Goodwin & Webster pottery. It is embellished with an incised floral decoration highlighted with cobalt, which is comparable to types produce in Manhattan and the Hudson River Valley region, etc. about the same period.

This crock is also marked with an impressed “D” along the rim, which may represent the work of Daniel Goodale. Goodale also worked on Front Street, although Goodwin and Webster purchased Goodale's pottery in 1831, and some transitional pieces may carry overlapping marks or influence from the “D. Goodale / Hartford” stamp.

For more information - contact Antiques Associates At West Townsend in Massachusetts: https://www.aaawt.com/about/

Also see the Introduction to my sixth book, titled, A City on the River: The Early Red Earthenware of the Hartford, Connecticut Area: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-city-on-the-river-the-early-red-earthenware-of-the-hartford-connecticut-area/.

19th Century Stoneware Crock from Hartford, CT Marked "Goodwin & Webster"

19th Century Stoneware Crock from Hartford, Connecticut

Marked "Goodwin & Webster"

Circa 1830

Stands 12 1/2" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T.

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

19th Century Religious Slip Script Decorated Red Earthenware Dish Sells in Virginia

A fascinating example of nineteenth century religious slip script decorated red earthenware sold yesterday at Hillard & Company in Madison, Virginia. The dish is inscribed "2 thess / 1:7.8.9."

According to the New Testament of the Bible, "2 Thessalonians 1:7.8.9 describes the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, promising relief to persecuted believers and righteous vengeance on those who reject God. When Jesus returns with angels in "flaming fire," unbelievers will face "everlasting destruction" and separation from His presence, finalizing judgment for those who do not obey the gospel."

This type of is dish is similar to production from places like Bergen County, New Jersey, Long Island, New York, and Norwalk, Connecticut which is where a variety of religious slip script objects were produced in the1800s. 

In fact, it was published in an article written by Richard Miller for the 2016 issue of Ceramics in America, titled, Norwalk (Connecticut) Slip-script Pottery, the Potters, and Related Ware: "Customers at the Asa Edward Smith (1798-1880) Pottery (ca. 1825-1887) could order dishes inscribed with the names of saints who served as models for a Christian life. The number of extant examples is large, with those inscribed "St. Francis Xavier" and "St. Remigius" typifying most."

Nonetheless, this dish sold for $2,100 plus the buyer's premium: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/225230396_large-18th-c-slip-decorated-redware-dish-madison-va.

Note: For more information about religious slip script and other related pottery made in America/Canada - see my latest published two-volume book, titled, America's Great Awakening and Migration: The Red Earthenware of Western New York: https://historicbeverly.net/product/americas-great-awakening-and-migration-the-red-earthenware-of-western-new-york/.

19th Century Religious Slip Script Decorated Red Earthenware Platter

19th Century Slip Script Decorated Red Earthenware Dish

Inscribed "2 thess / 1:7.8.9."

Measures 14 1/4" Long

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Hillard & Company

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Some Good 19th Century Philadelphia and Vermont Stoneware Currently Available in Massachusetts

This is a rare six-gallon stoneware butter churn with an ovoid body that was made in Burlington, Vermont in the 1850s and is adorned with a detailed floral decoration in cobalt. The churn is impressed with the maker’s mark “Nichols & Boynton / Burlington, VT.” 

The Nichols & Boynton stoneware business was a short-lived partnership between Francis Nichols (b. 1823) and Lucien Boynton (1811-1886). The company was originally owned by the Ballard family, when it was acquired by Nichols and Boynton in the 1850s, eventually being sold back to Hiram N. Ballard (1829-1883). 

Nonetheless, the Boynton name is synonymous with stoneware production in Vermont and New York in the 1800s with family related pieces owned by the New York State Museum and the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., among other museums.

For more information - contact Antiques Associates At West Townsend in Massachusetts: https://www.aaawt.com/about/.

A few others pieces of note that are also available - 

1) A Stoneware Log Cabin Bank Made at the Haig Pottery in Philadelphia: https://www.aaawt.com/antique/rare-cobalt-decorated-harrison-stoneware-log-cabin-bank/

2) A Pecking Chicken Cobalt Decorated Crock Made at the J. & E. Norton Pottery in Bennington, Vermont: https://www.aaawt.com/antique/5-gal-j-e-norton-bennington-vermont-stoneware-pecking-chicken-crock/

Six-Gallon 19th Century Stoneware Butter Churn

Adorned with a Detailed Floral Decoration in Cobalt

Impressed "Nichols & Boynton / Burlington, VT"

Circa 1850s

Stands 19 1/2" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T.

Another View of the Churn

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T.

A View of the Maker's Mark and the Cobalt Decoration

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T.

A View of the Back of the Churn

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Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T.

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

A Good Example of Pottery Made by George Ohr in Biloxi, Mississippi Currently Available in Massachusetts

George Ohr (1857-1918), also known as the "Mad Potter of Biloxi," produced a wide variety of art pottery in Biloxi, Mississippi in the late nineteenth and twentieth century. His work is represented in art museums all over America today, although the story of how his production was rediscovered in the 1960s is remarkable in itself.

According to an article published on the television network PBS' website, titled, Who's James Carpenter? The Man Who Bought Ohr's Pottery, "In 1968 Carpenter and his wife had traveled south on a routine hunting expedition for antique cars and auto parts. Along the way, they encountered the Ohrs' Biloxi homestead and auto junkyard business — together with the family's vast inventory of eccentric, and very dusty, pottery, which had remained since Ohr shutdown his pottery business in the early 1900s. The sheer plenitude of Ohr's pottery still in storage there made a massive impression on the couple.

Seeing an opportunity, Carpenter made the Ohrs an offer for the whole lot, and although the Ohr brothers rebuffed his first and a few subsequent offers, they eventually settled on a price (somewhere in the vicinity of $100,000, according to Ohr family oral history). Carpenter personally hauled the cache of some 10,000 pieces of pottery — a motley assortment of masterpieces, knickknacks, and everything between — north to New Jersey, just on the outskirts of New York City.

David Rago of Rage Auctions says Carpenter deserves credit for patiently introducing Ohr's work into Manhattan's burgeoning art-pottery market during the 1970s and 1980s.

According to Rago, Carpenter not only rediscovered Ohr's pottery, he also had the shrewdness and courage to mortgage practically everything he owned to invest in it — "as well as the good fortune to live just an hour outside New York City." From there, he spent a lifetime methodically making good on one savvy gamble." 

It was also published in The Boston Globe in 1986: "...that Ohr viewed his more embellished or artistic pottery as "freaks," and he refused to sell those works of art. However, those works were later acquired by James Carpenter, a barber and part-time antiques-dealer from New Jersey, who basically spearheaded the entire George Ohr movement within the twentieth century art pottery crowd in the Northeast, especially in New York City."

Nonetheless, this is a good example of Ohr's production that is currently available in Massachusetts - the small vase includes Ohr's signature in script.

For more information - contact Antiques Associates At West Townsend in Massachusetts: https://www.aaawt.com/about/.

Vase Made by George Ohr in Biloxi, Mississippi

Late 19th Century Earthenware Vase

Made by George Ohr in Biloxi, Mississippi

Stands 4 3/4" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T.

A View of the Base

Signed in Script "George Ohr"

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T.

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

Americana Symposium Next Month in Pennsylvania!

I will be speaking on Saturday March 14, 2026 at the Second Annual Americana Symposium at Historic Trappe in southeastern Pennsylvania. My talk will be about my article in this year's issue of Americana Insights, titled, Nathaniel Sellers: A Postmaster and Potter of Upper Hanover, Pennsylvania - http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2025/10/2025-issue-of-americana-insights.html.

This is the information that was released yesterday about the event!

** Seats Are Limited. Americana Awaits.

Buy your tickets now for the Second Annual Americana Symposium⁠, March 13–15, 2026⁠!

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This year’s symposium examines one of the most beloved aspects of American folk art—Pennsylvania German redware. Focusing on redware’s production, use, and collecting in southeastern Pennsylvania from the mid-1700s to mid-1900s, the third annual Americana Symposium provides fresh insights into renowned potters such as Georg Hubener and Samuel Troxel as well as lesser-known figures. It also delves into the work of twentieth-century potters including Jacob Medinger, considered the last of the traditional Pennsylvania German potters; Henry Chapman Mercer, founder of the Moravian Tile Works and Mercer Museum; and Mildred Weekes Keyser, a pioneering female potter. Held in conjunction with Historic Trappe's landmark exhibition on Pennsylvania German redware and Americana Insight’s third volume, this year’s Americana Symposium is not to be missed!⁠

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This year's speakers include Laini Farrare, Christopher Malone, Deborah Miller, Lisa Minardi, Karl Pass, Greg Shooner, Justin Thomas, and Adam Zayas, and a keynote lecture by Johanna Brown. Add-ons to the symposium include a bus trip to visit private and public collections on Friday, March 13, and hands-on workshops on Sunday, March 15. ⁠

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Whether you’re a collector, scholar, historian, or simply passionate about material culture, mark your calendar now and stay tuned for registration details!⁠

⁠

To register, please visit the symposium's website:

⁠https://historictrappe.org/americanasymposium/ **

Americana Symposium Next Month in Pennsylvania!

Americana Symposium Next Month in Pennsylvania

See Above for More Information

Please StayTuned...Much More to Come...

A Preview of Forthcoming Two-Volume, Tenth Book!

Here are a group of pages that include my nephew Jason from Volume I of my forthcoming two-volume, 1,660 page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts. 

For those of you who do not know - Jason has been a part of some pretty important discoveries in New England through the years, such as helping identify the long forgotten stoneware kiln remains of William Pecker (1757-1820) in South Amesbury (Merrimacport), Massachusetts, which led to multiple articles in the New England Antiques Journal, and the publication of my fourth book, titled, South Amesbury's Red Earthenware & Stoneware: The 1791-1820 William Pecker Pottery: https://historicbeverly.net/product/south-amesburys-red-earthenware-stoneware-production/.

He was also a part of my research at National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where we helped reidentify the eighteenth and nineteenth century red earthenware of the Bradford family in Kingston, Massachusetts, later published in the May 2019 issue of Maine Antique Digest, and 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/. Although the Bradfords are also a part of the new book!

However, the most historically important discovery might be a slip decorated red earthenware sherd from a pan that we found about a decade ago along a river in Danversport, Massachusetts. The spiraled slip design on this sherd is similar to cobalt decoration applied on stoneware produced in Manhattan in the eighteenth century, along with elsewhere in the Hudson River Valley region, New Jersey and Connecticut. The inspiration for the design on the red earthenware sherd likely came from European design, although this type of design has also been discovered on related artifacts recovered by archaeologists in Ipswich, Marblehead and Salem, Massachusetts. This is a type of local production that seems to date from the eighteenth century, and is related to some extant forms in both private and museum collections. All of this will be explained in my forthcoming tenth book.

The second group of pages shows my nephew studying with me at the City of Boston Archaeology Lab in West Roxbury, Massachusetts in 2013, where he is holding a cannon ball from the Battle of Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts on June 17, 1775.

A Preview of Forthcoming Two-Volume, Tenth Book!\

My Nephew Jason Discovering an Important Sherd in Danvers, Mass.

The Sherd was Made in Either Danvers or Salem, Mass. Likely Before 1800

These Pages are Included in Forthcoming Tenth Book!

See Article for More Information

My Nephew Jason Holding a Cannon Ball in 2013

This was Shot at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775

These Pages are Included in Forthcoming Tenth Book!

See Article for More Information

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

Preview of Forthcoming Tenth Book - Two Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Jars from the Same Manufacturer

This is a type of production that will be included in my forthcoming two-volume, 1,660 page, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts.

I found the jar on the left years ago at the antique shows in Brimfield, Massachusetts, which had been recently discovered as part of an old estate clean out in Danbury, Connecticut, alongside a late eighteenth or early nineteenth century slip decorated red earthenware jar made at the Nathaniel Seymour (1763-1849) Pottery in West Hartford, Connecticut. Because of the context - I included both of these objects in my sixth book, titled, A City on the River: The Early Red Earthenware of the Hartford, Connecticut Area: https://historicbeverly.net/product/a-city-on-the-river-the-early-red-earthenware-of-the-hartford-connecticut-area/.

But the slip on the jar also matches archaeology recovered on slip decorated red earthenware pans found in the Danvers and Salem, Massachusetts area, circa eighteenth century contexts.

However, the jar on the right is from the same manufacturer, although it retains its original lid, and is owned by the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The museum suggests a circa 1780-1820 period possibly in Danvers, Massachusetts, but I would not rule out the Symonds family in neighboring Salem, circa 1750-1830. 

Interestingly, there is actually a third jar known with its original lid that is owned by Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, which will also be published in the book!

Preview of Forthcoming Tenth Book

Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Jars from the Same Manufacturer

Adorned in Types of Slip that Matches Archaeology in the Danvers and Salem, Mass. Area

The Archaeology is from Different 18th Century Contexts

See Article for More Information

Right Photo Courtesy: Gavin Ashworth and Chipstone Foundation

This Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Jar May Be Related to the Above Jars

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke Museum

A Close Up of the Slip Decoration

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke Museum

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