EarlyAmericanCeramics.com

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Perhaps Connecting an Early New England Colander with a British Example

At New Hampshire Antiques Week, a friend acquired a fascinating eighteenth century British slip-decorated earthenware colander from Massachusetts dealers Eliot and Grace Snyder. The piece, featuring three feet and a dish-like form, is notably dated and inscribed with initials. This object immediately caught my attention because it slightly resembles a peculiar slip-decorated red earthenware colander held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Gifted to the museum in 1956 by Miss Elizabeth Tuck (1881-1968), that particular piece was reportedly made in eighteenth century Massachusetts, though its maker remains unknown. It is also the only eighteenth century colander that I have seen from New England.

This resemblance highlights a fascinating link between early American and British pottery. In the 1600s and 1700s, New England potters were deeply inspired by imported British slip decorated earthenware, often copying shapes and styles. Because decorated colanders with three feet were rare and perhaps made as special orders, seeing these two pieces together is highly unusual. The connection between them leaves a possible mystery: did the anonymous Massachusetts potter directly copy a British import, or did they simply share a common design history? Either way, the two objects likely show how British styles traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to shape some early Massachusetts red earthenware.

(Left) 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Colander

Reportedly Made in Massachusetts

The Colander was Gifted to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1956

Measures 14" in Diameter

Photo Courtesy: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

(Right) 18th Century British Slip Decorated Earthenware Colander

The Colander Has Three Feet Attached to the Back

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Eliot and Grace Snyder

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

Rare Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Household Wares

These are some excellent early examples of slip-decorated red earthenware. They will be featured in my tenth book, a 1,900-page, two-volume work titled An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly, and Salem, Massachusetts. While most of these pieces reside in private collections—including several formerly owned by Roger Pheulpin of Gloucester, Massachusetts, Chris Huntington of Maine and another by George McKearin of New York City—some were previously exhibited in the early 1990s at the Heritage Museum on Cape Cod, which was curated by Brian Cullity.

Probably All 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Pots

The Form is Typically Called a "Honey Pot"

It was a Popular British Form; Staffordshire, England, etc.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Various Museum and Private Collections

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

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

From the Matt King Collection: A Rare Danvers-Salem, Mass. Red Earthenware Bowl Surfaces in New Hampshire

A notable eighteenth- or early nineteenth-century slip-decorated red earthenware bowl recently surfaced in the Matt King Collection, selling tonight during the ongoing auction at Flying Pig Auctions in Westmoreland, New Hampshire.

Attributed to the Danvers and Salem, Massachusetts region, the bowl features swirled slip motifs that mirror local archaeological recoveries from Danvers, Ipswich, Marblehead, and Salem, as well as early European designs. Personally, I suspect it may have been made by the Symonds family of Salem (1750–1830)—a lineage best known today for their seventeenth-century furniture shop. While further research is needed to prove they manufactured this exact design, there is no question that this style was produced locally.

Strikingly, the pattern also echoes the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century cobalt decorations used on stoneware in parts of New Jersey, New York City, the Hudson River Valley, and southern Connecticut. This exceptional bowl will be included alongside local archaeology in my forthcoming tenth book, a two-volume, 1,900-page work: An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly, and Salem, Massachusetts.

18th or Early 19th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Bowl

Matches Archaeology from the Danvers and Salem, Mass. Area

See Article for More Information

Courtesy: Matt King Collection

Another View of the Bowl

See Article for More Information

Courtesy: Matt King Collection

Another View of the Bowl

See Article for More Information

Courtesy: Matt King Collection

Another View of the Bowl

See Article for More Information

Courtesy: Matt King Collection

Another View of the Bowl

See Article for More Information

Courtesy: Matt King Collection

Some of the Cited Archaeological Evidence

This and More Evidence Will Be Included in My New Book!

See Article for More Information

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

Monday, August 17, 2026

Where Witchcraft and Red Earthenware Intersect: A Research Journey to Danvers, Massachusetts

My forthcoming tenth book—a two-volume work spanning more than 1,900 pages—is titled An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts. This new publication will expand significantly on the life and career of Peter Clark (1743–1826), who is unquestionably one of the most vital figures in the eighteenth and nineteenth century New England pottery trade.

While my eighth book, An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses, largely analyzed his family’s production in New Hampshire, Clark’s vast influence actually began in Danvers, Massachusetts. From there, he established a business in Braintree in the 1760s before going on to shape early pottery production in Hartford, Connecticut, and across New Hampshire and Vermont.

With the book’s release quickly approaching, I made one final trip recently to the Salem Village Parsonage Site in Danvers to ensure no detail was missed. There, one historical marker clearly details the architectural history of the property under the potter's grandfather, Reverend Peter Clark (1693-1768), who became the village minister in 1717. The marker notes that by the early 1730s, the 1681 parsonage had fallen into such poor condition that Reverend Clark urged the community to either renovate or rebuild. This culminated in a January 1734 town vote to demolish the old lean-to and erect a two-and-a-half-story addition on the back west side of the house. Crucially, this very property serves as a dark focal point in American history; it was in this original 1681 parsonage structure that the Salem Witch Trials originally ignited in 1692, under the tenure of Reverend Samuel Parris (1653-1720). This profound layer of historical evolution adds immense depth to the physical landscape the Clark family would later inhabit.

For more information about the Clark family - see my eighth book, though this family will also be highlighted in my eleventh book that is currently an ongoing project, titled, A Monumental History: Stories of Red Earthenware Production in Western Massachusetts, the Berkshires and Vermont: https://historicbeverly.net/product/an-influential-family-of-early-potters-the-clarks-of-new-hampshire-and-related-businesses/.

Information on Display at the Salem Village Parsonage in Danvers, Mass

See Article for More Information

Information on Display at the Salem Village Parsonage in Danvers, Mass

See Article for More Information

This is the Site of the Salem Village Parsonage in Danvers, Mass.

Operated 1681-1784

See Article for More Information

This Jar was Made by the Clark Family in Northern New England

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Dr. Ed Robertson

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

A Remarkable Survivor: Rare Bristol County Red Earthenware Jar Surfaces at Flying Pig Auctions

A significant example of late eighteenth or early nineteenth century slip-decorated red earthenware from Bristol County, Massachusetts, sold today at Flying Pig Auctions in Westmoreland, New Hampshire. Offered as part of the Matt King Collection, the uncleaned jar remains a remarkable survivor; despite significant slip loss, its overall condition is fine.

The piece is directly related to a well-documented jar once sold by New York City dealers Garrison and Diana Stradling (see below). That companion piece was originally held by the Howard Gilman Foundation and displayed in their Manhattan office alongside decoys, early photography, and the rest of the corporate red earthenware collection before selling at Christie's New York in 2003 and 2004. Today, only a small group of these slip-decorated Bristol County jars are known to exist—most having been specially made for local Quaker weddings or members of the Bristol County Quaker community—making this newly surfaced example an incredibly rare find.

For more information - see my fifth published book, 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/.

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

Attributed to Bristol County, Mass.

Circa 1780-1830

See Article for More Information

Courtesy: Matt King Collection

Another View of the Jar

See Article for More Information

Courtesy: Matt King Collection

Another View of the Jar

See Article for More Information

Courtesy: Matt King Collection

Another View of the Jar

See Article for More Information

Courtesy: Matt King Collection

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

Attributed to Bristol County, Mass.

Circa 1780-1830

Previously Owned as Part of the Howard Gilman Foundation in New York City

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy Garrison & Diana Stradling

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

Saturday, August 15, 2026

Unearthing the Bradford Family Green Glazes: Tracking 19th-Century Glazes from Kingston to Cape Cod

The Major John Bradford House is a historic First Period homestead built around 1714 in Kingston, Massachusetts, for Major John Bradford (1653-1736)—a foundational town figure and grandson of Mayflower passenger Governor William Bradford (1590-1657). While the house itself was never the site of a pottery business, it shares a profound ancestral connection with the famed Bradford family pottery operation. That multi-generational business began around 1750 on a nearby Wapping Road farm, where a later descendant named John Bradford (1732-1811) established a brick-making and local red earthenware kiln. The workshop truly flourished between the 1780s and 1870s under his son, Stephen Bradford (1771–1837), and grandson, Stephen Jr. (1807-1866), who harvested local clay pits along the Jones River.

Among the artifacts on display in this house is a collection of red earthenware, many of which are green-glazed flowerpots and saucers. These pieces feature a glaze similar to the type produced by Quaker potters in Bristol County, who also made their own green-glazed flowerpots and saucers: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/05/three-generations-of-red-earthenware.html.

Identical green-glazed saucers were also recovered during the twentieth century by Brian Cullity (see below), the former curator of Heritage Museums & Gardens (formerly the Heritage Plantation of Sandwich), which were discovered at another Bradford family pottery business on Cape Cod. This branch was established in 1819 when Noah Bradford Jr. (1761–1841) relocated from Kingston to Barnstable, Massachusetts, to expand the family's regional reach. After purchasing the site from Prince Nye (1781–150), Bradford operated the pottery there from 1819 to 1830. While this specific green glaze flowerpot and saucer style was unquestionably manufactured at the primary Kingston location, it remains unclear if the Bradford family also produced it on Cape Cod or if the found artifacts were shipped there from Kingston.

Interestingly, I have questioned whether some of the more uncommon green-glazed forms currently attributed to Bristol County might actually be Bradford family creations. However, the only definitive evidence gathered so far confirms their production of green-glazed flowerpots and saucers. Surviving examples of these distinct objects are preserved today in various private collections, as well as at Historic Deerfield in Massachusetts and the Winterthur Museum in Delaware.

For more information - see a five-page feature story I wrote for the May 2019 issue of Maine Antique Digest, titled “The Bradford Family Potteries in Massachusetts.” This information was then published again in my fifth book, 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/.

This is the Major John Bradford (1653-1736) House in Kingston, Mass.

Built About 1714

See Article for More Information

This is the Major John Bradford (1653-1736) House in Kingston, Mass.

Built About 1714

See Article for More Information

Various Red Earthenware Flowerpots and Saucers

Many of the Examples are Glazed Green

All Manufactured by the Bradford Family in Kingston, Mass.

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Jones River Village Historical Society

These Green Glazed Flowerpot Saucer Sherds were Recovered on Cape Cod

These were Recovered by Brian Cullity

Found at the Site of the Noah Bradford Jr. Pottery

They Match the Form Made by the Bradford Family in Kingston, Mass.

Circa 1819-1830

See Article for More Information

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

New Published Feature Story - Early 19th-Century American Marbled Slip Decorated Red Earthenware: A Short Look At The Design Transported to America

This is the print version of my latest feature story published on pages 4, 5 and 10 in the August 14, 2026 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, Early 19th-Century American Marbled Slip Decorated Red Earthenware: A Short Look At The Design Transported to America.

Here is a link to a PDF of page 4: https://www.academia.edu/171344044/Early_19th_Century_American_Marbled_Slip_Decorated_Red_Earthenware_A_Short_Look_At_The_Design_Transported_to_America

Here is a link to a PDF of page 5: https://www.academia.edu/171344054/Early_19th_Century_American_Marbled_Slip_Decorated_Red_Earthenware_A_Short_Look_At_The_Design_Transported_to_America

Here is a link to a PDF of page 10: https://www.academia.edu/171344054/Early_19th_Century_American_Marbled_Slip_Decorated_Red_Earthenware_A_Short_Look_At_The_Design_Transported_to_America