The Roger Bacon Collection of Red Earthenware at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts

A few months ago, I wrote about a collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century red earthenware, which renowned New Hampshire antiques dealer, Roger Bacon had donated in 1975 to Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

I do not believe this was a collection that was previously known from Bacon. Apparently, the museum's acquisition must have happened quietly since it is not a well-known aspect of Bacon's career that is known today. But, then, again this may have been a collection that became lesser known as the years past.

Nevertheless, I recently learned that Roger Bacon also donated a collection of red earthenware in the 1960's to Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. It was a similar collection, as to what is seen in Strawbery Banke; although, the objects in Portsmouth seem to focus more on wares made in Essex County, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Instead, the objects that were donated to Old Sturbridge Village are a little more diverse with rare objects that were made in southeastern Massachusetts, Beverly, Massachusetts, Essex County, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.

Note: I have included a number of pictures from Roger Bacon's red earthenware collection at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts; however, this is not the entirety of this collection.

Here are also links to two articles, where I wrote about some of the red earthenware, which was donated by Roger Bacon to Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

1. Article Number 1
2. Article Number 2

Roger Bacon Red Earthenware Collection Donated to Old Sturbridge Village

Late-18th or Early-19th Century Red Earthenware Jug Attributed to Southeastern Mass.

Donated by Roger Bacon to Old Sturbridge Village

Circa 1780-1820

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

19th Century Red Earthenware Churn Attributed to Essex County, Mass. or New Hampshire

Inscribed 'Lucinda Osborn'

Donated by Roger Bacon to Old Sturbridge Village

Published by Old Sturbridge Village in 1966

Pictured in 'Old New England Pottery,' an Old Sturbridge Village Booklet Series

'Old New England Pottery' was Written by Massachusetts Author, Lura Woodside Watkins

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Shaving Mug

Attributed to the Charles A. Lawrence Pottery in Beverly, Mass.

Donated by Roger Bacon to Old Sturbridge Village

Circa 1866-1872

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

19th Century Red Earthenware Dish Attributed to New England

Donated by Roger Bacon to Old Sturbridge Village

Circa 1780-1820

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

View of the Back of the Dish

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

18th or Early-19th Century Slip-Decorated Dish

Attributed to Southeastern Massachusetts

Donated by Roger Bacon to Old Sturbridge Village

Circa 1770-1810

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

18th or Early-19th Century Slip-Decorated Dish

Attributed to Southeastern Massachusetts

Donated by Roger Bacon to Old Sturbridge Village

Circa 1770-1810

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

18th or Early-19th Century Slip-Decorated Dish

Attributed to Southeastern Massachusetts

Donated by Roger Bacon to Old Sturbridge Village

Circa 1770-1810

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

18th or Early-19th Century Slip-Decorated Dish

Attributed to Southeastern Massachusetts

Donated by Roger Bacon to Old Sturbridge Village

Circa 1770-1810

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

18th or Early-19th Century Slip-Decorated Dish

Attributed to Essex County, Massachusetts

Donated by Roger Bacon to Old Sturbridge Village

Circa 1770-1810

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

19th Century Red Earthenware Wash Basin Attributed to New England

Interestingly, the Basin Retains a Really Old Bar of Soap

Donated by Roger Bacon to Old Sturbridge Village

Circa 1800-1860

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

View of the Old Bar of Soap

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

Another View of the Basin

Photo Courtesy: Old Sturbridge Village - Sturbridge, Mass.

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

An Important Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Jar that is Owned by Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Earlier today, I visited Strawbery Banke's storage department in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in order to study (and photograph) the museum's collection of eighteenth and nineteenth-century American-made red earthenware. The museum's collection mostly consists of products, which would have been used in Portsmouth in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries.

I was also already aware of a large slip-deocrated jar, which I viewed last year when I visited the museum with Massachusetts antiques dealer, Samuel Herrup; however, I could not remember exactly how it appeared.

When I saw that slip-decorated jar today, I instantly realized that the slip-decoration was basically undoubtedly applied by the same hand as was the slip-decoration on a jar that I found earlier this week. I found that jar in the rain at the 'New England Motel and Antiques Market Show' in Brimfield, Massachusetts. The dealer told me that he recently found the jar in a house in Danbury, Connecticut.

Strawbery Banke's jar is also accompanied with a strong history, where it was gifted to the museum in 1975 when the museum was pursuing objects, which pertained to everyday life in Portsmouth in the eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries. The museum's jar was reportedly found in New Hampshire by famed Brentwood, New Hampshire antiques dealer, Roger Bacon before 1975, but he could have discovered it years earlier, as well.

Roger gifted the jar to Strawbery Banke, among other red earthenware objects, which appear to have been mostly from southern New Hampshire and Essex County, Massachusetts potters, such as the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company (circa 1764-1799)  in Newburyport, Massachusetts and the William Pecker Pottery (circa 1790-1820) in Merrimacport, Massachusetts.

It should be important to note, as well that pottery from the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company has been recovered in various eighteenth-century archaeological contexts in Portsmouth, and elsewhere in New Hampshire.

There is no doubt that Daniel Bayley was exporting his wares to places like Salem, Massachusetts, Portland, Maine and even to military forts spread throughout Maine and Canada. There is strong evidence to support this claim.

These are the comparable characteristic between the two jars of discussion, which are also shown below.

1. The lead glaze colors are very similar.
2. The hand that applied the slip appears to be the same hand.
3. The bases are both partially glazed, which may have been accidental.
4. I assume that the jar I found in Brimfield may have also originally had a lid.
5. The objects are both a similar size.
6. The footed bases are also very similar. 
7. The color of the clay matches.

Note: I have also shown pictures of slip-decoraed sherds collected at the site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company by Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins ('Early New England Potters and Their Wares') in the 1930's, as-well-as Daniel Bayley Pottery sherds recovered in archaeological contexts in New England and Canada before 1790. I have also shown some of the other red earthenware objects that were gifted by Roger Bacon to Strawbery Banke in 1975.

Strawbery Banke's Jar

(Damaged) Likely 18th Century Red Earthenware Jar Reportedly Discovered in New Hampshire

Slip-Decoration is Similar to Decoration From the Daniel Bayley Pottery Co. in Newburyport, MA

Slip-Deocration was Likely Done by the Same Hand as was the Decoration on the Jar Below

Also Notice the Color of the Glaze

Stands 10 1/4" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

 Another View of the Jar

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

 View of One Handle

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

 View of the Glaze on the Base

Notice the Color of the Glaze

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

 View of the Interior

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

 View of the Slip-Decorated Lid

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

Another View of the Lid

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

Jar Found in Brimfield, Mass.

 Probably Late-18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Jar

Slip-Decoration Resembles Slip Applied at the Daniel Bayley Pottery Co. in Newburyport, Mass.
Slip-Deocration was Likely Done by the Same Hand as was the Decoration on the Jar Above
This Jar May Have Originally Had a Lid

Reportedly Found in a House in Danbury, CT

Stands 11 1/8" Tall

Weighs 10 Pounds

 Another View of the Jar

 Another View of the Jar

 Another View of the Jar

 Another View of the Jar

 Another View of the Jar

 View of the Interior

View of the Glaze on the Base

Daniel Bayley Archaeology

 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot

Attributed to the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered in a Circa 1770 Archaeological Context at the Narbonne House in Salem, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Narbonne House - Salem, Mass.

 19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot

Attributed to the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered in a Circa 1770 Archaeological Context at the Narbonne House in Salem, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Narbonne House - Salem, Mass.

19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot

Attributed to the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered in a Circa 1770 Archaeological Context at the Narbonne House in Salem, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Narbonne House - Salem, Mass.

19th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot

Attributed to the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered in a Late-18th Century Archaeological Context on Deer Street in Portsmouth, NH

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke Archaeology Department - Portsmouth, NH

Daniel Bayley Pottery Co. Attributed Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Dish - Newburyport, MA
Recovered in Saint John, NB in the Mid-1950's
The Proprietors of a Trading Post on the Site Came from Newburyport, MA.
Stands 3 1/8" Tall

Measures 14 1/8" in Diameter
Ca. Late 1760's or Early 1770's
Photo Courtesy: Peter Larocque, New Brunswick Museum - Saint John, NB

 18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds

Recovered at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered by Massachusetts Author, Lura Woodside Watkins in the 1930's

Circa 1764-1799

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds

Recovered at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered by Massachusetts Author, Lura Woodside Watkins in the 1930's

Circa 1764-1799

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

  18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds

Recovered at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered by Massachusetts Author, Lura Woodside Watkins in the 1930's

Circa 1764-1799

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

  18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds

Recovered at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered by Massachusetts Author, Lura Woodside Watkins in the 1930's

Circa 1764-1799

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

  18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds

Recovered at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered by Massachusetts Author, Lura Woodside Watkins in the 1930's

Circa 1764-1799

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

  18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds

Recovered at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered by Massachusetts Author, Lura Woodside Watkins in the 1930's

Circa 1764-1799

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

  18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds

Recovered at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered by Massachusetts Author, Lura Woodside Watkins in the 1930's

Circa 1764-1799

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 18th Century Slip-Decorated Red Earthenware Sherds

Recovered at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company in Newburyport, Mass.

Recovered by Massachusetts Author, Lura Woodside Watkins in the 1930's

Circa 1764-1799

Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

A Few Objects from Roger Bacon's Collection

 William Pecker Red Earthenware Pot - Merrimacport, Mass.

Circa 1790-1820

Gifted to Strawbery Banke by Roger Bacon in 1975

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

 Probably 18th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher

Likely Made in Either Essex County, Mass.

This is One from a Pair that were Donated

Circa 1760-1799

Gifted to Strawbery Banke by Roger Bacon in 1975

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

 Probably 18th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher

Likely Made in Either Essex County, Mass.

This is a Second from a Pair that were Donated

Circa 1760-1799

Gifted to Strawbery Banke by Roger Bacon in 1975

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

Please Stay Tuned…Much More to Come…

A Pair of 18th Century Red Earthenware Pans that were Uncovered in a Privy at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm in Newbury, Massachusetts

The Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm is a Colonial American homestead/farm located in Newbury, Massachusetts. The property's original seventeenth-century stone home still stands today, where eighteenth-century additions have also been added. The original stone house was built in a classic English style.

A section of the property was excavated by a team of archaeologists in the late-twentieth-century, where an eleven-seat early-nineteenth-century privy was discovered with artifacts dating from the circa 1770-1820 period. These artifacts represent some of the types of wares, which were available during the period in the Newburyport, Massachusetts-area. The ceramic collection includes wares that were imported from China, Europe and Japan; however, Charlestown, Massachusetts stoneware and locally produced red earthenware was also represented.

Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, Newbury, Mass.

Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm - Newbury, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Historic New England

Archaeology at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm - Newbury, Mass.

Photo Courtesy: Historic New England

The following description was provided by Historic New England, and it represents the history of ownership at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm.

1635-1651: Spencer Ownership: First Settlement
"The site was first settled by John Spencer in 1635 when he was granted a 400-acre parcel as part of the first allocation of land to new settlers. The town also granted him a house lot of four acres near the landing site in the Parker River.

In 1637, Spencer was disarmed for being a supporter of Anne Hutchinson and part of a heretical sect. He left Newbury, and gave his property to his nephew. John Spencer died in England in 1648, and his nephew sold the property to Daniel Peirce."

1651-1778: Peirce Ownership: Colonial Farm
"Daniel Peirce, Sr. came to Newbury from Watertown, Massachusetts in 1638. He took an active role in the affairs of the new town, and was engaged in blacksmithing, malt-making, farming and cattle raising. The house remained in the Peirce family until 1778."

1778-1861: Tracy, Boardman, Pettengill Ownership: A Country Estate
"In 1778, Newburyport merchant, Nathaniel Tracy purchased the farm from the Peirce descendants. Tracy's ownership inaugurated an era when the house served as a country seat for prominent families in nearby Newburyport.

The property was sold to Offin Boardman when Nathaniel Tracy died in 1796. Boardman used the house for family quarters and also for servants. 

Boardman died in 1812, and John Pettengill purchased the farm at auction, also in 1812. Pettengill seems to have used the home as a summer house, leasing portions of the property to tenant farmers."

1851-1986: Little Ownership: A Family Farm
"In 1851, Edward Little, a descendant of early settlers of Newbury leased the farm from the Pettengill heirs. By 1861, his hard work and shrewd business investments made it possible for him to purchase the farm outright. The farm remained in the Little family until it was acquired by Historic New England in 1986. Historic New England also acquired all of the Little family's furnishings with the property, which included a variety of locally produced products that remained in their original context of ownership."

Yesterday, I showed three of the red earthenware objects, which were recovered from the circa 1770-1820 privy at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm; these objects were involved with the Tracy, Boardman and Pettengill occupancy/ownership. However, it is difficult to prove which family (or families) would have owned these objects.

Today, I have two more manganese decorated red earthenware pans to show from that same archaeological context, which were also likely made in the Newburyport, Massachusetts-area in the late-eighteenth-century. It is also possible that all of the red earthenware pans discovered in this privy were made at the same potter's business. But that theory is still under investigation today.

Nevertheless, the following two objects exhibit a style of manganese decoration, which is also seen on a matching pair of eighteenth-century red earthenware pitchers owned by Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

The pitchers were donated by Brentwood, New Hampshire antiques dealer, Roger Bacon in 1975, who presumably must have found them locally in New Hampshire (see museum's identification card below). The pitchers were gifted by Bacon along with a group of Essex County, Massachusetts red earthenware that included products from the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company (circa 1764-1799) in Newburyport, as-well-as the William Pecker Pottery (circa 1790-1820) in Merrimacport, Massachusetts.

Generally, I believe the pair of pitchers that are owned by Strawbery Banke would often be attributed to Connecticut today due to how the manganese was applied. On the other hand, this was also an early Essex County, Massachusetts characteristic, which has been proven thanks to Roger Bacon's generous donation, and the archaeology at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm.

Note: The eighteenth-century red earthenware potteries in the Newburyport-area were larger than what is generally understood today. For example, the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company produced red earthenware from circa 1764-1799. This was a full time business, which archaeological evidence shows the company's products were exported elsewhere in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Canada. However, this was not the only known Newburyport potter's business before 1800, either.

The Daniel Bayley Pottery Company is also regarded as a business that regularly applied slip-decoration to its red earthenware. But that was not the only type of decoration that was used at this company; although, it was the type of decoration that Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins largely focused on in her book, 'Early New England Potters and Their Wares.'

Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, Newbury, Mass.

 Late-18th Century Red Earthenware Pan 

Uncovered at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm Newburyport, Mass.

Likely from a Local Newburyport, Mass. Red Earthenware Potter

Uncovered in a Circa 1770-1820 Privy

Manganese Decoration is Similar to the Pitchers Discussed Below

Photo Courtesy Boston University Archaeology Department

View of the Base

Photo Courtesy Boston University Archaeology Department

 Late-18th Century Red Earthenware Pan 

Uncovered at the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm Newburyport, Mass.

Likely from a Local Newburyport, Mass. Red Earthenware Potter

Uncovered in a Circa 1770-1820 Privy

Manganese Decoration is Similar to the Pitchers Discussed Below

Photo Courtesy: Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm, Newbury, Mass. - Historic New England

Strawbery Banke Museum, Portsmouth, NH

Pitcher Number 1

18th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher Likely Made in Essex County, Mass.

A Pair of These Pitchers Were Donated to the Museum by Roger Bacon in 1975

Decoration is Similar to the Pans Above from the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm

The Pans Above Were Probably Made in Newburyport, Mass.

Museum Suggests a Circa 1764-1795 Production Date

The Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Operated During a Similar Period in Newburyport, Mass.

Stands Approximately 9" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

 Another View of the Pitcher

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

Another View of the Pitcher

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

Pitcher Number 2

18th Century Red Earthenware Pitcher Likely Made in Essex County, Mass.

A Pair of These Pitchers Were Donated to the Museum by Roger Bacon in 1975

Decoration is Similar to the Pans Above from the Spencer-Peirce-Little Farm

The Pans Above Were Probably Made in Newburyport, Mass.

Museum Suggests a Circa 1764-1795 Production Date

The Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Operated During a Similar Period in Newburyport, Mass.

Stands Approximately 9" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

View of the Museum's Description

The Museum Suggests a Circa 1764-1795 Production Date

The Daniel Bayley Pottery Company Operated Circa 1764-1799 in Newburyport, Mass.

Although, I Do Not Believe This Object was Made in New Hampshire

But I Do Believe These Pitchers Were Found in New Hampshire by Roger Bacon

Photo Courtesy: Strawbery Banke - Portsmouth, NH

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