18 — Antiques and The Arts Weekly — August 11, 2023
Eighteenth Century Earthenware Pitcher
Found In A Seventeenth Century Bake Oven
A close-up view of the “dot” decoration that
surrounds the pitcher’s rim.
The pitcher’s handle.
By Justin W. Thomas
ESSEX, MASS. — The term slipware
or slip decorated pottery comes from a
type of coloring applied in the decora-
tion process found on some earthen-
ware ceramics used for both utilitari-
an needs and more formal tableware.
The technique originated in Stafford-
shire, England, during the mid-Seven-
teenth Century, as elaborately deco-
rated ornamental dishes, posset pots,
chamber pots, cups, honey pots, mugs,
jugs, candlesticks, among other forms
were produced. These types of objects
were manufactured in several pottery
centers in England in the Seventeenth
and Eighteenth Century.
The majority of the Staffordshire
slipware produced during the 1670-
1795 period had pale pink to buff-col-
ored clay bodies. One common decora-
tion was combed lines in iron oxide or
manganese over a white slip, giving
the pottery a pale-yellow appearance
under the clear lead glaze. The reverse
decoration was also found, with dark
slips (black or dark-brown) and trail-
ing pipeclay designs before glazing. In
addition, the rims and necks were
often decorated with light or dark
spots, which led to their nickname of
“dot” wares. Staffordshire slipware
was also decorated by swirling vari-
ous slips on the interior of the vessel,
sometimes creating a marbled design.
Furthermore, this type of production
was exported throughout the Ameri-
can colonies before the American Rev-
olution. It is typically associated with
American archaeology sites that range
from about 1675 to 1775. This type of
pottery has also been recovered at
Eighteenth Century military sites and
trading post sites in the eastern part
of Canada. Essentially, it is a type of
production that was widely popular
and has been recovered by archaeolo-
gists everywhere from coastal Maine,
coastal New Hampshire, Boston, New
York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore,
down to the Southern colonies, and a
countless number of locations in
between.
My niece Alexis holding the Eighteenth Century red earthenware
pitcher with slip decorated dots applied around the entire rim that
I purchased from the Pheulpin collection auction at Blackwood/
March. The pitcher was found in a Seventeenth Century bake oven
and fireplace that had been sealed up around the late 1700s in a
house in West Newbury, Mass. The pitcher stands 5-1/8 inches tall.
It should not be surprising to learn
that with the popularity of this type of
production in the 1700s came Ameri-
can potters who copied this style. In
some cases, the slip was applied just
like it was created in England, but in
other instances, the potters gave it
their own interpretation. Among the
places that this type of slip decorated
red earthenware was produced in
America in the 1700s was the indus-
try in Charlestown, Mass.
In Charlestown, there were dozens
of potters who worked at a number of
different potteries before the Battle of
Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775, produc-
ing utilitarian wares that were sold to
the local Boston/Charlestown market-
place, as well as shipped all over
coastal New England. However,
archaeological research has also prov-
en that the reach of Charlestown pot-
tery went far beyond New England,
with Charlestown red earthenware
having been recovered as far north as
Canada, on the eastern end of Long
Island in New York, and as far south
as the Carolinas.
Additionally, archaeological evi-
dence recovered during Boston’s Big
Dig project in the 1980s revealed that
this type of slip decorated red earth-
enware was produced at the Parker
Pottery in Charlestown, although it
may also have been produced at other
businesses. The Parker Pottery was
established circa 1714 by Isaac (1692-
1742) and Grace Parker (1697-1754)
and produced red earthenware (and
some stoneware) until the 1750s.
Local archaeology also revealed that
English slip decorated earthenware or
“dot” ware was used in Charlestown,
such as some artifacts recovered from
privies at the site of the Three Cranes
Tavern. Although, it has also been
recovered from various sites in Bos-
ton, such as a pre-1742 archaeological
context at Faneuil Hall and at the
Pierce-Hichborn House, located next
door to the Paul Revere House in Bos-
ton’s North End neighborhood.
Interestingly, knowing all of this
information and the historical signifi-
cance of this type of “dot” ware pro-
duction with some Eighteenth Centu-
ry potters in coastal Massachusetts, I
was very surprised to learn about an
Eighteenth Century pitcher that
recently sold in a group lot, as part of
the Roger Pheulpin Collection, which
Blackwood/March Auctioneers sold on
July 19. This pitcher may not have
looked like much to anyone unfamiliar
with this type of production from some
colonial New England potters; howev-
er, it was the object that caught my
eye during the auction preview. In
fact, I was quite familiar with this col-
lection, and I do not remember having
ever seen this object before.
I ended up purchasing the lot,
although this object’s significance was
given an even greater meaning after I
discussed the pitcher with Ports-
mouth, N.H., antiquarian Hollis Bro-
drick. I learned from Hollis that this
Eighteenth Century slip decorated
red earthenware pitcher retains quite
a story, whereas a few decades ago, a
circa 1680 or so house was restored in
West Newbury, Mass. This house orig-
inally had a large walk-in fireplace
with bake ovens, but one of the home-
owners decided they wanted a smaller
fireplace, probably in the late 1700s.
As a result, much of the fireplace was
then covered up, including the bake
ovens, sometime around the post-
American Revolution period to about
1800. However, when the house was
Colonial Eighteenth Century Staf-
fordshire, England, slip-decorated
earthenware chamber pot with dot
decoration applied on the rim, which
was recovered from a privy at the
site of the Three Cranes Tavern in
Charlestown, Mass. Photo courtesy
City of Boston Archaeology Program.
Eighteenth Century slip decorated
red earthenware porringer with
some dot decoration probably made
at the Parker Pottery in Charles-
town, Mass.; recovered from a circa
1720-50 privy at the site of the Three
Cranes Tavern in Charlestown.
Photo courtesy City of Boston
Archaeology.
Eighteenth Century slip decorated
red earthenware sherd with dot dec-
oration recovered at the site of the
circa 1714-50s Parker Pottery in
Charlestown, Mass. Photo courtesy
City of Boston Archaeology Program.
restored, the fireplace was completely
opened up to its original appearance,
and some objects were found hidden
in it, such as this pitcher.
The style of the dot slip decoration
that goes around the entire rim of this
object is quite sophisticated, and the
spotted black, cream and gray colored
exterior glaze is quite unusual to see
with this type of Eighteenth Century
production in New England. The inte-
rior is decorated with the same color
of slip as seen with the dots.
I am greatly excited about this object
because it is a very rare survivor that
retains a remarkable provenance, and
it perhaps represents one of the few
surviving objects from the industry in
Charlestown or even the Samuel Mar-
shall (d 1749) Pottery in Portsmouth,
who also produced this type of pottery
in the city’s Puddle Dock neighbor-
hood before 1749. Other local potters
include the Daniel Bayley Pottery
Company, Newburyport, Mass., while
William Pecker (1757-1820) and other
potters were operating in South Ames-
bury (Merrimacport), Mass., in the
1700s, including one red earthenware
potter who relocated from Charles-
town in the 1780s. There was also
early production in Andover, Mass.,
along with possibly some undocu-
mented potters in other local commu-
nities in coastal Massachusetts and
New Hampshire. Nonetheless, I feel
this is a great object and an incredibly
rare survivor!