A Brief Investigation into a Pair of 19th Century Red Earthenware Dogs

Back in September 2023, while heading home from a hike with my dog in southern Maine, we stopped at an antique group shop just a few miles to the north. There, I came across a remarkably large, gold-painted, nineteenth century red earthenware figure of a recumbent dog. At the time, I suspected the piece originated in the Mid-Atlantic region—perhaps Pennsylvania—even though I had never seen another dog quite like it. I also felt strongly that the gold paint was original to the piece, likely applied at the pottery shop as a post-firing decoration rather than a later addition. Furthermore, its form and finish suggested it was intended as a formal mantel ornament of some sort, rather than a utilitarian household object like a doorstop.

However, the story took an interesting turn yesterday when a friend in Pennsylvania discovered a closely related, slightly smaller dog that had been found some time ago in the Chambersburg area. Historically, Chambersburg served as an important hub for traditional red earthenware production—a regional trade heavily shaped by the prominent Heart and Bell families. Directly within the town, patriarch Jacob Heart Sr. (1789–1865) produced red earthenware during the early-to-mid nineteenth century, establishing a family legacy that extended into the 1870s.

Chambersburg's potting community was tightly knit; the legendary John Bell (1800-1880) worked alongside Heart from 1826 to 1833 before relocating fifteen miles southeast to Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. In Waynesboro, Bell and his son, John W. Bell (1828-1895), established a prolific, multi-generational pottery that operated for decades. The roots of this regional style trace twenty miles further south to the influential industry in Hagerstown, Maryland, where patriarch Peter Bell (1775-1847) originally trained his sons in German folk traditions. Meanwhile, just twenty miles east in Adams County, generations of the Miller family operated country potteries, supplying similar utilitarian red earthenware to the local farming community.

Note: For more information about the Miller family - see a feature story I wrote published on pages 5, 6 and 7 in the July 11, 2025 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, Miller Red Earthenware: A History Of The Family's Production In Adams County, Pa: https://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2025/07/new-published-feature-story-in-antiques.html.

For more information about the Bell family - see a feature story I wrote for the December 7, 2018 issue of Antiques and Auctions News, titled, The Bell Pottery Collection At The Renfrew Museum in Waynesboro, Pa: https://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2018/12/feature-story-published-in-antiques-and.html.

19th Century Figure of a Recumbent Red Earthenware Spaniel

Found in Maine in 2023

The Gold Paint is Likely Original to the Factory

Probably Circa 1850-1900

Measures 11 5/8" in Length

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Another View of the Dog

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19th Century Figure of a Recumbent Red Earthenware Spaniel

Found Yesterday in Pennsylvania

Previously Found in the Chambersburg, PA Area

Probably Circa 1850-1900

Measures 11" in Length

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Photo Courtesy: Private Collection

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

From Hartford to Norwich: Three Types of Pitchers Made by Sidney Risley

I recently shared a few stories explaining the significance of a circa 1830 slip decorated red earthenware pie dish from West Hartford, Connecticut, and its connection to the Slater Memorial Museum in Norwich. During a recent visit to the museum, I came across three particularly noteworthy pieces of pottery on display. These nineteenth century earthenware pitchers were crafted by Sidney Risley (1814–1875), a potter who moved from Hartford to Norwich and opened his own works there in 1835. While his intricate, highly acclaimed pieces are featured in major institutions across the country—including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Philadelphia Museum of Art—these specific examples can be seen right now at the Slater Memorial Museum.

19th Century Earthenware Pitcher Made in Norwich, CT

Made by Sidney Risley

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Photo Courtesy: Slater Memorial Museum

Information Displayed with the Pitcher

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Photo Courtesy: Slater Memorial Museum

19th Century Earthenware Pitchers Made in Norwich, CT

Made by Sidney Risley

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Photo Courtesy: Slater Memorial Museum

Information Displayed with the Pitchers

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Photo Courtesy: Slater Memorial Museum

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

Boston and Charlestown Stoneware in the Legacy of Lura Woodside Watkins

Figures 89–95 in Lura Woodside Watkins' book, Early New England Potters and Their Wares (1950), illustrate a variety of late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century stoneware objects from Boston and Charlestown, most of which are now held by the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Perhaps the most intriguing of these is a stoneware jar shown in Figure 90, marked "Boston" and inscribed "Lydia Osborn" and "Marshall Timson." On page 83, Watkins describes the piece: "...In addition to its elaborate decoration, the reverse features the script signature "Marshall Timson," with "Lydia Osborn" scratched just below "Boston." The piece shows evidence of trial-and-error craftsmanship, as smoothing out a previous, unsatisfactory design left faint traces of the name and Charlestown..."

Two candidates from the legendary Osborn potting dynasty of Danvers and Peabody, Massachusetts, emerge for the jar's inscription, which will be featured in my forthcoming two-volume, tenth book, An Early Industry of Household Wares: The Red Earthenware of Salem Village, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly and Salem, Massachusetts. The first is Lydia Foster Osborn (b. 1774), daughter of the well-documented early utilitarian potter Abel Osborne. The second, younger candidate is Lydia Osborn (b. 1819) to Jonathan Osborn, a descendant of the same multi-generational lineage.

This piece highlights another potential link between the Essex County, Massachusetts lineages and the local stoneware industry, which includes a jar sold at Crocker Farm in 2021, now part of Adam Weitsman's collection at the New York State Museum: https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2021-04-09/lot-1/Highly-Important-Mrs-Elesebeth-Tarbell-1806-BOSTON-Stoneware-Jar/.

This is Figure 90

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Courtesy: Early New England Potters and Their Wares

Additionally, other pieces illustrated in Early New England Potters and Their Wares—including two jugs and a jar also held by the Smithsonian—exhibit the distinct forms, stamps, and incised decorations characteristic of the regional potting tradition. The accompanying photograph shows how these objects appear today, recreating Watkins' original 1950 layout from Figure 89.

This is Figure 89

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Courtesy: Early New England Potters and Their Wares

This is How These Objects Appear Today

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Photo Courtesy: National Museum of American History

Remarkably, one of the historic stoneware objects documented in Watkins' book is currently available in Massachusetts: the iconic, salt-glazed jug was originally published as Figure 92 in Early New England Potters and Their Wares. Stamped “BOSTON 1804,” this jug was manufactured by Frederick Carpenter (1771–1827) at his pottery along the Mystic River in Charlestown, Massachusetts. A true masterpiece of early American craftsmanship, the jug features an elegant, highly ovoid form adorned with a classic Federal-period swag-and-tassel decoration highlighted in rich cobalt, complemented by Carpenter's signature, English-influenced reddish-brown iron oxide slip.

For more information - see Lorraine German's article in the 2021 issue of Ceramics in America, The Little Pottery of Charlestown, Massachusetts: https://chipstone.org/article.php/869/Ceramics-in-America-2021/The-Little-Pottery-of-Charlestown,-Massachusetts.

For additional information - see this link: https://www.aaawt.com/antique/early-19th-century-boston-stoneware-jug-made-at-frederick-carpenters-pottery/

This is Figure 92

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Courtesy: Early New England Potters and Their Wares

Early 19th Century Stoneware Jug Made by Frederick Carpenter in Charlestown, Mass.

Decorated with Swag and Tassel Highlighted with Cobalt

Impressed "BOSTON 1804."

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

North of Burlington: The 19th Century Red Earthenware Spaniels of Milton, Vermont

My forthcoming eleventh book—in collaboration with a team of researchers—is scheduled for publication in 2027. Titled A Monumental History: Stories of Red Earthenware Production in Western Massachusetts, the Berkshires, and Vermont, the volume includes the lives of a group of red earthenware potters in the Burlington, Vermont area. Among these accounts is the fascinating history of a unique pair of red earthenware spaniels. Here is a preview of their story!

"...In the 1940s, the parents of Vermont auctioneer Duane Merrill purchased this unique pair of nineteenth century red earthenware spaniels from two sisters in Milton, Vermont—a town located just north of Burlington. As history states, each sister had been gifted a dog from their family-run pottery workshop in the Milton (and Burlington) area, where the figures were originally handcrafted. Modeled in the popular nineteenth century Staffordshire spaniel tradition, the figures feature the classic front-facing, seated posture, deeply textured curly coats, and expressive facial features characteristic of the breed.

Notably, Milton sits just under forty miles south of the Canadian border, placing the workshop right next to a vibrant cross-border pottery corridor. This particular style of red earthenware and stoneware spaniel figure was a popular type of production among Canadian potters during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, especially throughout Ontario, where local kilns frequently supplied rural homes with similar decorative mantel pieces and doorstops.

While cast from similar molds, these two dogs remain distinct, non-matching variations rather than an identical pair. Their glazes further emphasize their individuality: one displays a vibrant, spotted and mottled green-and-brown glaze, while its counterpart features a deep, black glaze likely manufactured from manganese..."

19th Century Red Earthenware Spaniels from Two Sisters in Milton, Vermont

Each Retains a History of Family Ownership

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Photo Courtesy: Duane Merrill

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Three Colors, Two States: The Red Earthenware Kilns of John Betts Gregory

To expand on one of yesterday’s posts, there is still no definitive answer as to where some (or all of this type of) nineteenth century marbled slip decorated red earthenware platters and dishes were made in the American Northeast. While Norwalk, Connecticut, is frequently rumored to be a source for some of this specific production, conclusive archaeological proof remains elusive. Interestingly, most of these pieces feature a distinct three-color slip decoration (while some are marbled with two colors). This aligns closely with at least one known potter who worked in Norwalk—among other regions—and frequently utilized a two- and three-color slip technique on some of his documented wares.

19th Century Three-Color Marbled Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dishes

This Type of Production is Also Known in Two-Colors of Marbled Slip

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Photo Courtesy: Winterthur Museum, M.F.A., Boston and Private Collections

19th Century Three-Color Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dishes

(Left) Lew Scranton Always Felt this was Made in Norwalk, CT

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Photo Courtesy: Lew Scranton and M.F.A., Boston

One of the Slip Techniques Produced by John Betts Gregory in Clinton, N.Y.

Gregory Also Worked in Norwalk, CT and Long Island

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Photo Courtesy: Clinton Historical Society

John Betts Gregory (1782–1842) was a premier early American red earthenware potter who learned his trade under Absalom Day (1770-1843) in Norwalk, Connecticut, mastering the regional style before briefly crossing the Long Island Sound to work at the Huntington Pottery on Long Island in the early nineteenth century. Interestingly, marbled slip decorated red earthenware has been recovered from two separate archaeological contexts on Long Island that align perfectly with Gregory's employment there. One dish was recovered near the Huntington Pottery in central Long Island, while the other was found further east. Both plates feature a distinct three-color marbled slip decoration—a specific color palette that Gregory later used on some of his signed slip-script wares during his subsequent employment in Upstate New York.

Early 19th Century Marbled Three-Color Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Plates

Both Recovered and Likely Made on Long Island

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Photo Courtesy: Anthony Butera Jr. and Gary Hammond

Around 1810, Gregory made a historic move to Clinton, New York, where he operated one of the first red earthenware businesses west of the Hudson River Valley out of a massive 140-by-40-foot building between Marvin and Williams Streets. During this Upstate New York era, he became known for producing two- and three-color slip-script platters and dishes that closely mirrored the forms and color palettes of the marbled dishes in question. Some of his best-known surviving inscriptions include "Why / Will you / Die," "If you / have / plenty come / and buy," "Clinton Ware," and "It is / much better / buy than / Borrow." Gregory's daily production was also defined by his lively personality, and locals remembered him singing religious hymns while throwing clay—though his near-constant presence at the wheel led some neighbors to consider him a recluse (Selleck, 1896).

In 1896, the Reverend Charles Melbourne Selleck (1831–1909) recorded a vivid memory of Gregory in his history of Norwalk: "...He had a genial soul, and loved to scatter jokes and bits of humor among old and young who came to inspect his works or to buy his wares. He was a devout Methodist. Placing a lump of clay on his lathe, he would set his wheel a-spinning, and, while moulding pan or jug or other vessel, would burst into some old refrain..."

Facing shifting market demands, Gregory returned to Norwalk in 1831 and established new kilns on Canfield Island, where he likely continued producing the more colorful wares he had mastered in Clinton until his retirement and subsequent death in 1842. It is also highly likely that the marbled slip decorated platters and dishes under discussion were manufactured during the 1800–1840 window.

Additionally, given that Gregory's "Why Will you Die" plate is perhaps the earliest known example of nineteenth century religious slip-script produced in the American Northeast, it raises a compelling question: could he have in-part influenced the religious slip-script decorated red earthenware produced at the Asa Edward Smith (1798-1880) Pottery in Norwalk after 1825? This connection aligns with a feature story I posted earlier this week titled, Saints and Slip-Script: The Spiritual Side of Norwalk's Red Earthenware Industry: https://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/11/saints-and-slip-script-spiritual-side.html.

Note: For additional information - see a feature story I wrote 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: https://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2026/08/this-is-print-version-of-my-latest.html.

There is also a section about John Betts Gregory in my two-volume ninth book, 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 Two- and Three-Color Slip-Script Decorated Red Earthenware

Made by John Betts Gregory in Clinton, New York

Circa 1810-1820s

Gregory also Worked in Norwalk, CT and Long Island

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Photo Courtesy: Private Collections, Clinton Historical Society and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum

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

Nineteenth Century Red Earthenware Inkstand from the John Wine Collection

I acquired this nineteenth century red earthenware inkstand five or six years ago from the private collection of longtime Ontario collector John Wine. While Wine originally believed the base inscription referenced "Parkesburg, PA," a friend recently examined it closely and discovered that the text is actually written partially in German. Given that the piece was originally discovered in Ontario decades ago, it may well have been produced locally. 

Following a tireless effort to decipher the script, the base appears to read: 

• Lic: lich (referencing an academic title) 

• Cuinduvg: Kündigung (referencing employment) 

• Vin London: From London (Ontario) 

• Paris Town (Ontario)

19th Century Red Earthenware Inkstand Found Years Ago in Ontario, CA

The Base is Inscribed

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Another View of the Inkstand

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A View of the Inscribed Base

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This is What it May Read on the Base

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Thrift Store Find: 19th Century Stoneware Crock from Charlestown, Massachusetts

Despite its condition, I simply couldn’t leave this nineteenth century, five-gallon stoneware crock behind at a Danvers, Massachusetts thrift store last night—especially for just $2.99. Adorned with a cobalt flower, the piece proudly bears the maker's mark "EDMANDS & CO." It was manufactured just a few miles south in Charlestown, Massachusetts, a pottery center known for shipping stoneware throughout the area during the 1800s. Because of this local trade, this particular crock likely carries a history of regional ownership, perhaps dating as early as 1875.

Circa 1875 Five-Gallon Stoneware Crock Made in Charlestown, Mass.

Decorated with a Flower in Cobalt

Impressed "EDMANDS & CO."

Found Last Night at a Thrift Store in Danvers, Mass.

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Another View of the Crock

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