Antique American Pottery
Early American Potters
The first American colonists could ill afford, or have any use for, decorative tablewares. Just as 17th century English potters catered primarily for the farming community, so in 18th century America the potters were producing `redware’ or ’stoneware’ vessels for cooking or storage, but when the occasion arose, they too were able to apply their skills to fashion more decorative items. Plates or platters, various sized bowls, some suitable for tea drinking, and a wide range of jugs and pitchers, were made more attractive with brushed, ’splashed’ or trailed clay slips of contrasting colours. New England archeologists have found evidence of a wide range of wares, which has enabled the collector readily to distinguish between pottery made in America from that imported from England. Porringers in the form of a large shallow cup with a single `steadying” handle, were used at the table for multiple foods, together with mugs of tall cylindrical form.
Towards the middle of the 18th century, the American potters, many of whom had migrated from Staffordshire, became aware of the dangers of using glazes with a high lead content. As a result there was an increased manufacture of salt-glazed stoneware, of a type which had much in common with the early German Rhenish vessels, rather than the fine white body of mid-18th century Staffordshire. There was little encouragement for the American potter to try to improve upon the quality of these humble wares, for from the last quarter of the 18th century masses of white earthenware was being exported from England at a price American craftsmen could not possibly match, despite efforts to produce both tin-glazed and cream-coloured earthenware.
Due to the importation of Chinese pottery, the demand for the more expensive and vulnerable English blue-and-white soft-paste was very low. However, many wares such as Nankin China mugs and salt cellars went to America by way of England, as there was no direct trading taking place between America and China before the American Revolution.
Attempts have been made by many researchers to find proof of the type of pottery said to have been made by the Savannah potter Andrew Duche, who, according to William Stephens, Secretary to the Colony of Georgia, was making ‘translucent’ wares as early as 1741. This would pre-date any documented English pottery. South Carolina also appears to have attracted potters from England. In 1770 John Bartlam was advertising the opening of ‘A China Manufactory and Pottery’ to be staffed by ‘the properhands’ from England. A contemporary pottery in the same area was also advertising for fine clays, which were probably required for the manufacture of crearnware.
The most important finds concerning 18th century American ceramics were made at Philadelphia, where excavated fragments identify at least 20 examples of the soft-paste pottery made by Gouse Bonnin and George Morris. These identified pieces include baskets, sauce-boats, cups and saucers, sweetmeat dishes and covered jars. They are decorated in underglaze-blue, having a great deal in common with English potterys made at Bow, Derby and Worcester. It was a pity that this venture only lasted from 1770-72.
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Tags: 18th century, American, Andrew Duche, chinese pottery, earthenware, english potters, George Morris, Georgia, German, John Bartlam, jugs, manufacture, New England, potters, stoneware vessels, tablewares