Pottery In Colonial America
Understanding the types of pottery that have been made in or imported to America can be difficult to sort through. Below is a thumbnail sketch of the most common types of pottery found in America during the 17th and 18th centuries along with a very brief technical description of each which, hopefully, will prove useful to the reader.
The average New England household in the 17th century could contain an assortment of ceramics from Europe, the Mediterranean and the Orient. Trade up and down the Atlantic coast was taking place among the Dutch, English and Spanish. The inventories of early 17th century New England households in the Boston area have shown to contain Dutch and English delft, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese maiolica (or majolica), porcelain, imported redware and locally manufactured redware.
EARTHENWARE: All clays which have a porosity above 5% when fired are considered earthenwares. What this means is that the ability of a fired clay to hold liquids without seepage occurring must be within 5% of being completely water tight (vitrified). Earthenwares can range from pure white to dark brown in color. The texture of the clays can be fine grained to coarse. Generally, earthenwares fire to lower temperatures than either stoneware or porcelain. Earthenwares cannot be made absolutely water tight because of their porosity although the application of glaze to the pot does help. Some glazes work better than others in preventing seepage.
Redware is a type of earthenware. What causes the red color is the amount of iron in the clay body. Other minerals can affect the color as well but iron is the major mineral to affect color. Redwares can range from light orange to dark brown in color and the clay body can be fine grained to coarse. Redware clay deposits occur close to the surface and can be used as they are after processing. The color of the clay as it comes out of the ground can very greatly from the finished pot. Often, redware clays in New England are grey in color until after firing at which time many of them range from bright orange to deep red-brown.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, locally produced redware was usually utilitarian and sometimes of poor quality. From the 1680s through the Revolutionary War potters were restricted by the British from making fancier wares and could only make the more basic forms such as chamber pots, pans, butter pots and other common pieces found in the kitchen and pantry. These types of wares were not economical to ship from Europe and so local production was tolerated. Refined redwares, most stoneware and all porcelain and tin-glazed wares were imported into the American colonies until the end of the Revolutionary War. Another reason for the lack of local production of more refined ceramics is due to the fact that outside of urban areas, potters were frequently farmers or involved in another livelihood besides pottery. The farmer/potter would make pottery during the times of year when the demands of farming were low. They provided a necessary service to their communities by supplying much needed wares. Skilled potters who emigrated to America usually worked in the urban areas where more jobs were available. The rural American potter was often self taught or taught by other potters who never had the benefit of learning the trade in one of the large well organized European centers.
STONEWARE: Clay which can be fired within 2% of total vitrification or less are considered to be stoneware. Stoneware clays are usually made up of blended clay bodies to produce a malleable, strong clay which can be worked on the pottersÕ wheel and fired to a vitreous state. Color and texture of stoneware clays can vary quite a lot. Color can range from white to dark brown and texture can be smooth to coarse. Salt glazing is a process whereby sodium, most often in the form of coarse salt, is introduced into the kiln during the firing. A chemical reaction between the clay body and the salt forms the pebbly, clear glaze. Although technically salt-glazing can be performed on certain earthenwares and porcelains, this process is most commonly used on stoneware. From an historic viewpoint, it can be assumed that a salt-glazed pot is made of stoneware.
Stonewares were imported from Europe to the American Colonies until the end of the Revolutionary War. Germany and England were the largest producers and exporters of stoneware. Both countries were producing grey salt glaze with blue decoration. The English added manganese purple as a decoration by the 18th century. Both countries also produced brown salt glaze. The German bellarmine jug and the English stein are the most common forms of brown salt glazed stoneware produced for foreign markets. American production began in the mid 18th century and both imitated and competed with the European imports despite trade restrictions. Large scale manufacture did not occur until immediately after the Revolutionary War. The large centers in the North spread from New Jersey and New York into New England. The southern centers were concentrated in Philadelphia and eastern Pennsylvania. Over time, more potteries started and began spreading further south. The tradition of salt glaze and alkaline glaze stoneware continued there well into the mid 19th century.
Information taken in part from:
www.JuliaSmith.com
www.EarlyAmericanHome.net
www.Facebook.com/EarlyAmericanHome
