Another Preview of Forthcoming Tenth Book: A Crossing Slip Technique Recovered from Different Archaeological Contexts in the Salem, Massachusetts Area

Some previous published information has suggested that little slip decorated red earthenware was manufactured in the Danvers and Salem, Massachusetts area in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, although a variety of archaeological investigations after 1970 appear to have proven otherwise. But it is difficult to pinpoint some of the slip techniques to a specific potter, family or business, seeing that there were so many potters that operated in this area during the seventeenth to nineteenth century (i.e. Osborn, Southwick, Goldthwaite, Wilson, Kettle, Symonds, Butterfield, Purinton, etc.).

Nonetheless my forthcoming two-volume, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts, will show a wide variety of slip techniques recovered from different archaeological contexts in Danvers, Peabody, Marblehead, Salem and Ipswich, etc. One of those designs is a spiral technique recovered from numerous sites in the area, which I also recently posted an article about on this website, titled, "Another Preview of Forthcoming Tenth Book: Spiraled Slip Designs Produced in the Danvers and Salem, Massachusetts Area, Circa 1690-1790:" http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/03/another-preview-of-forthcoming-tenth_6.html.

Another style recovered from eighteenth century contexts in Salem and Marblehead is a crossing slip technique, which I have not seen produced anywhere else in America during this period. My suspicion is that the Symonds family may have been involved with some of the area's slip production, but the family is best known today for the furniture they made in Salem in the seventeenth century. However, the family actually transitioned to manufacturing red earthenware about 1750 until around 1830, where they also had ties to the pre-1775 industry in Charlestown, Massachusetts. 

Shown here is a late eighteenth or nineteenth century slip decorated red earthenware bottle privately owned in New England today. The location that it was made is not known; also shown are two red earthenware sherds with crossing slip designs recovered from eighteenth century archaeological contexts in Salem (top right) and Marblehead (bottom right). 

(Left) Late 18th or 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Bottle

Adorned with a Crossing Slip Technique

Manufacturer or Location Made Not Known

(Top Right) Late 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Pan Sherd

Adorned with a Crossing Slip Technique

Recovered at the Narbonne House in Salem, Mass.

Circa 1770-1790 Archaeological Context

(Bottom Right) 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Sherd

Adorned with a Crossing Slip Technique

Recovered at the Lee Mansion in Marblehead, Mass.

Circa 1690-1750 Archaeological Context

Photos Courtesy: Private Collection, National Park Service and Marblehead Museum

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

A Preview of Forthcoming Tenth Book: Some Information About the Bradford Family's Production in Kingston, Massachusetts

In June of 2018, my nephew Jason and I visited the storage area of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., which is a place that I have visited on numerous occasions, as part of my research for my books and articles. However, the reason we visited on this particular day was to look over a collection of red earthenware sherds recovered before 1950 at the site of one of the Bradford family potteries in Kingston, Massachusetts. This is also an archaeology site that was excavated by archaeologists in the 1990s, which is stored today at Plimouth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts. 

There has been a great deal of confusion about the Bradfords and what they produced somewhat as a result of a small collection of their red earthenware that sold as part of the Christopher Huntington Collection in Maine in 1974. This was mainly a group of red earthenware pitchers with coggle wheel decorations that appeared like they were adorned with "Maine-type glazes," although there was no definitive answer as to where they were made. Some were interpreted through the years as having been made in Maine, while others questioned whether they were made in Massachusetts. 

By definition: A coggle wheel is a specialized pottery tool, typically made of wood, iron, or ceramic, featuring a patterned, grooved, or notched wheel mounted on a handle. It is used to decorate pottery by being pressed and rolled over the surface of clay, usually while it is in a leather-hard state, to create decorative indentations, relief patterns, or textures

Nonetheless, archaeology gave a definitive answer as to where these pitchers were made, along with a group of other forms also decorated with coggles. In fact, this is why my nephew and I visited the Smithsonian in 2018 to compare one of the existing pitchers to the archaeology. 

We also found that the Bradfords in Kingston produced a green glaze that is very similar to the green glazes manufactured by the eighteenth and nineteenth century Quaker potters in Bristol County, Massachusetts. The only known information is that the Bradfords used this green glaze on flowerpots and saucers, but that does not mean it was not used on other forms, as well. 

Furthermore, all of the information that we gathered was then published in a five-page feature story that I wrote for the May 2019 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled, The Bradford Family Potteries in Massachusetts: https://www.scribd.com/document/410016623/Bradford-Family-Potteries-May-2019-Issue-of-Maine-Antique-Digest?secret_password=jw7DJADt3EoVfEyFZE82.

A few years later, more information about the Bradfords was published in 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/.

Additionally, the Bradfords will also be a subject of a chapter 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. This chapter will also include some eighteenth century archaeology from Plymouth, such as some slip decorated red earthenware chamber pots and pans. For reference, the Bradford potteries operated under multiple generations of family ownership, circa 1750-1870, where there is a lot yet to be learned about the totality of this family's output. There was also a spinoff business on Cape Cod in the early nineteenth century.

Interestingly, the only other red earthenware business in New England to use a variety of coggle wheel decorations like this appears to have been the Farrar family in Addison County, Vermont. There were also some comparable colorful glazes produced in Addison County: https://hoodmuseum.dartmouth.edu/objects/2013.19#.

Note: Here is a link to a pitcher that sold at Crocker Farm in October 2019 that may have been made by the Bradfords, otherwise another New England potter: https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2019-10-26/lot-66/Rare-and-Important-Slip-Decorated-New-England-Redware-Pitcher/

19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher with Coggle Wheel Decoration

The Coggle Matches the Coggle Used on the Sherd

The Sherd Came from One of the Bradford Family Potteries in Kingston, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution

19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher with Coggle Wheel Decoration

The Coggle Matches the Coggle Used on the Sherd

The Sherd Came from One of the Bradford Family Potteries in Kingston, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution

19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher with Coggle Wheel Decoration

The Coggle Matches the Coggle Used on the Sherd

The Sherd Came from One of the Bradford Family Potteries in Kingston, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution

More Picture of the Coggle Wheel Decorated Sherds

Recovered at One of the Bradford Family Potteries in Kingston, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution

Sherds Recovered at One of the Bradford Family Potteries in Kingston, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution

(Top Row) 19th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher and Handled Pot

Both Adorned with a Different Type of Coggle Decoration

Both Made by the Bradford Family Likely in Kingston, Mass.

There are a Small Group of These Pitchers Known Today

There are Two of These Pots Known Today

(Bottom Row) Sherds Decorated with the Exact Same Coggle as the Pitcher and Pot

Sherds Recovered at One of the Bradford Family Potteries in Kingston, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution

(Left) There are Three of These 19th Century Jars Known Today

The Glaze Combination Closely Matches Types Recovered in Kingston, Mass.

(Right) Sherd Recovered at One of the Bradford Family Potteries in Kingston, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution

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

Late 18th or Early 19th Century Incised Red Earthenware Sherds Recovered at the 1721 Ladd-Gilman House in Exeter, New Hampshire

One of the recent feature stories I wrote published in the January 23, 2026 issue of Antiques And The Arts Weekly, titled, Recently Recovered From A River In New Hampshire - A 1793 Red Earthenware Pan Helps Write History, tells the known story of a late eighteenth century slip-script decorated red earthenware pan possibly related to the Quaker Meeting House in Dover, New Hampshire: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/new-feature-story-published-in-antiques_20.html.

Nonetheless, some interesting eighteenth or early nineteenth century red earthenware artifacts were recently discovered about twenty miles to the south of Dover on property owned by the American Independence Museum in Exeter, New Hampshire. 

The American Independence Museum was established in 1991, and includes the 1721 Ladd-Gilman House and the 1775 Folsom Tavern. Although the museum is centered around the discovery of a rare 1776 Dunlap Broadside Declaration of Independence that was discovered in the attic of the Ladd-Gilman House. This was one of the first official printings of the Declaration of Independence: https://www.nhmagazine.com/new-hampshires-revolutionary-treasure/.

Interestingly, this group of eighteenth or early nineteenth century incised red earthenware sherds were also recovered at the Ladd-Gilman House. This is a type of decoration that is often associated with red earthenware production in the Danvers and Salem, Massachusetts area, although it is not unique to any location. This is a type of production that will also be discussed in a chapter 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: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/01/update-on-new-book-book-sent-to.html.

Note: In the meantime - for more information about red earthenware in Exeter and elsewhere in New Hampshire - see either of these books:

1) From One Town Came Many: The Red Earthenware Industry of Ancient North Yarmouth, Maine - https://historicbeverly.net/product/from-one-town-came-many-the-red-earthenware-industry-of-ancient-north-yarmouth-maine/

2) An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses - https://historicbeverly.net/product/an-influential-family-of-early-potters-the-clarks-of-new-hampshire-and-related-businesses/

Incised Red Earthenware Sherds Recovered at the 1721 Ladd-Gilman House

This is the Ladd-Gilman House in Exeter, New Hampshire

The House was Built Circa 1721

A Copy of the 1776 Dunlap Broadside Declaration of Independence was Found in the Attic

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: American Independence Museum

18th or Early 19th Century Incised Red Earthenware Sherds

Recovered on the Property of the Ladd-Gilman House in Exeter, New Hampshire

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: American Independence Museum

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

Talk at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Tuesday, June 2, 2026

For anyone interested - I am scheduled to speak at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Tuesday, June 2, 2026. Check their event schedule for more information: https://www.strawberybanke.org/calendar.

This is an overview of the talk --

"European household pottery began to arrive in the Portsmouth, New Hampshire area in the early seventeenth century, closely following the initial English settlement in 1630, which was driven by trade in fish, fur, and timber. However, it was in the first-half of the eighteenth century that domestic red earthenware was imported and manufactured in Portsmouth. Archaeological and documented evidence reveals red earthenware made at the industry in Charlestown, Massachusetts was shipped to Portsmouth before 1755, some of which was purchased by Samuel Marshall (d. 1749), a local potter who operated on land owned today by Strawbery Banke. Marshall also had at least one African slave who worked at his pottery business. 

Nonetheless, this import system likely continued until Charlestown's industry was destroyed at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. After the American Revolution, a potter named Winthrop Bennett (1757-1826) was active, although his business was acquired in the 1790s by Joseph Dodge (1776-1849), who was born in Exeter, New Hampshire in 1776. Joseph came from a family of potters in Exeter, where the family also established a longstanding pottery business in Portland, Maine. Joseph's house and likely his kiln was located on Dearborn Street near the Piscataqua River, existing for decades under multiple generations of family ownership. It is not widely known today, but Portsmouth sustained red earthenware businesses in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, while also absorbing some red earthenware imported from other coastal parts of New England.

Interestingly, not much is known about Winthrop Bennett’s career; he was born in Portsmouth in 1757, although he was living with his family in Moultonborough, New Hampshire in 1800, which was a red earthenware production center. He also appears to have died in Vermont between 1825-1828, but it is unclear if he was a potter in Vermont."

In the meantime - for more information - see any of these previously published books:

1) The Dawn of Independence, the Death of an Industry: The Pottery of Charlestown, Massachusetts - https://historicbeverly.net/product/the-dawn-of-independence-the-death-of-an-industry/

2) From One Town Came Many: The Red Earthenware Industry of Ancient North Yarmouth, Maine - https://historicbeverly.net/product/from-one-town-came-many-the-red-earthenware-industry-of-ancient-north-yarmouth-maine/

3) An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses - https://historicbeverly.net/product/an-influential-family-of-early-potters-the-clarks-of-new-hampshire-and-related-businesses/

18th Century Red Earthenware Kiln Furniture and Wasters 

Recovered at the Site of the Samuel Marshall Pottery in Portsmouth, NH

Mug Found in an Important Context in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private Collection & Strawbery Banke Archaeology Department

Winthrop Bennett's Household Listed in 1790 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire
He was Born in Portsmouth in 1757

This is from the United States Federal Census

See Article for More Information

Winthrop Bennett's Household Listed in 1800 in Moultonborough, New Hampshire

This is from the United States Federal Census

See Article for More Information

Winthrop Bennett's Household Listed in 1810 in Moultonborough, New Hampshire

This is from the United States Federal Census

See Article for More Information

18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot

Recovered at the African Burying Ground in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Portsmouth Discovery Center

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

Another Preview of Forthcoming Tenth Book: Spiraled Slip Designs Produced in the Danvers and Salem, Massachusetts Area, Circa 1690-1790

This is another type of slip decorated red earthenware that will be discussed in some chapters 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.

This hand-thrown circa 1770-1790 swirled or spiraled slip decorated red earthenware pan is a type of decoration that has been recovered from various circa 1690-1790 archaeological contexts in Danvers, Ipswich, Marblehead, Salem Village and Salem, Massachusetts. It first appears at the site of the James Kettle (1664/65-1712) Pottery in Salem Village, circa 1687-1709/10, although it was produced by later local potters, as well.

Nonetheless, even though it likely cannot be proven, the inspiration for the design may have been some of the cobalt decorations manufactured in the New York City area in the eighteenth century. Although the manufacture of this type of design dates back hundreds of years in Europe, as well as with ancient pottery made in Egypt, etc.

For example, the late eighteenth century double-handled stoneware jar is adorned with a similar cobalt design, however it was made by Abraham Mead (1742-1827) in Greenwich, Connecticut. Interestingly, Mead’s stoneware production was heavily influenced by New York City stoneware potters, primarily through his apprenticeship with the Dutch potter Adam States (1718-1769; also spelled Staats or Statts). Mead apprenticed under States, who was active in Manhattan between 1743 and 1746 before moving to Greenwich. States brought specialized New York City/Dutch/German techniques for making salt-glazed stoneware to the southern Connecticut region. 

Mead’s work frequently utilized "watchspring" motifs— scrolled or spiraled cobalt blue designs—that are directly linked to earlier pieces made by States in Manhattan. This style was also prolific in dominant pottery shops in lower Manhattan during that era, as well as the Cheesequake, New Jersey area and perhaps in the Hudson River Valley region to the north of New York City, etc. 

Note: To my knowledge - this is one of three existing eighteenth century red earthenware objects known today from the Danvers and Salem area adorned with this type of slip decoration; two pans and a large jar. There is also a related object owned by The Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee, Wisconson.

(Left) 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Pan

Adorned with Spiraled Slip Designs

Likely Made in the Danvers and Salem, Mass. Area

Likely Circa 1770-1790

(Right) 18th Century Stoneware Jar with Spiraled Cobalt Designs

This Design is also Called "Watchspring"

Attributed to Abraham Mead (1742-1827) in Greenwich, Connecticut

Circa 1790

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Private Collection and the Connecticut Historical Society

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

Another Preview of Forthcoming Tenth Book: An 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Pan Recovered in Salem, Massachusetts

This is going to be a really fun event! I will be speaking at the Peabody, Massachusetts Historical Society on Saturday, March 28th about my forthcoming new book (publication date very soon, but still yet to be determined), etc., alongside Massachusetts potter Rick Hamelin.

"Redware and the Revolution!"

When: Saturday, March 28, 2026
Time: 2-4:30pm
Where: 38 Felton Street, Peabody, Mass.

See this link for more information and how to sign up!
https://peabodyhistorical.org/2026/03/saturday-march-28-2026/

My Talk Will Include a Presentation and Tour of the P.H.S. Collection

See Article for More Information

"Redware and the Revolution!"

See Article for More Information

In fact, one of the artifacts that I find really fascinating, which will be published in the forthcoming 1,660 page, two-volume, tenth book, titled, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts, is a circa 1770-1790 hand-thrown slip decorated red earthenware pan recovered from a privy at the site of the Narbonne House in Salem, Massachusetts. The pan was recovered by archaeologists in the 1970s alongside a variety of other eighteenth century slip decorated pans and chamber pots, all likely from local manufacturers.

Although, the characteristic about this pan that really piqued my interest are the three crossing lines of slip applied in the center. This may simply be a decorative characteristic, however the figure also resembles a hexmark, a mark used to ward off witchcraft and evil spirits. These marks were often etched or carved onto door handles, doors, and wooden panels in early New England homes in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, especially after the 1692 Salem Witch Trials in Salem Village. 

Note: There will also be a good amount of general information about witchcraft and the Salem Village Witch Trials discussed throughout the book.

Late 18th Century Slip Decorated Pan Sherds Recovered in Salem, Mass.

Recovered from a Privy at the Narbonne House

Circa 1770-1790

Probably from a Local Manufacturer

Adorned with a Centralized Motif

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: National Park Service, Narbonne House

This is a Hexmark Inscribed on a Door Handle on a Colonial New England Home

This Home is Located in Massachusetts

See Article for More Information

Another Comparison

These 18th Century Handles are From a House in Newburyport, Mass.

The Wayside Inn in Sudbury, Mass. also Has This Type of Marked Handle

See Article for More Information

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

Americana Symposium at Historic Trappe in Pennsylvania: March 13-15, 2026

This was posted earlier today: "Historic Trappe and Americana Insights are happy to announce Justin Thomas as one of the speakers at our upcoming Americana Symposium on March 13 to 15!

Justin W. Thomas is a collector and researcher into the history of American utilitarian pottery production from the seventeenth through the twentieth century. He has authored dozens of research articles for various regional and national publications, presented his research at a number of conferences, museums and historical societies, as well as being a guest curator for a major exhibit in 2019-20 at the Custom House Maritime Museum in Newburyport, Massachusetts about the local eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth century potters. Additionally, Thomas has an ongoing book series through Historic Beverly in Beverly, Massachusetts, about the history of red earthenware production in the American Northeast.

Whether you’re a collector, scholar, historian, or simply passionate about material culture, mark your calendars and register now for the 2026 Americana Symposium, March 13 to 15.

For more information, visit historictrappe.org/americanasymposium."

Posted Earlier Today by Historic Trappe in Pennsylvania

See Article for More Information

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