FAHRENHEIT 2300 by Crocker Farm

In 1817, Jonah and Calvin Boynton were in their second year of business together in Albany, NY. They imported high-quality New Jersey clay to Albany and, as Jonah Boynton boasted the previous year, they produced “as handsome real Stone Ware, as ever was manufactured in the United States… .” We have no way of knowing the exact number of stoneware vessels manufactured at the Boynton’s factory in 1817, but we do know that

they produced at least two exceptional keg water coolers with incised fish decorations that year. Both known examples were made at the Boynton factory, both bear the date 1817, both bear artistic incised decorations, both could have been produced in the same kiln firing and ironically, after not being offered for public sale for 192 years, both surfaced this year.

The first water cooler sold in March 21 as Lot 1 in our Spring 2009 Auction of Antique American Stoneware and Redware. Holding the world auction record for the highest price paid at a stoneware specialty auction ($103,500), this cooler is one of the finest surviving examples of Albany stoneware. Adorned with two incised birds and two incised fish filled with vibrant cobalt oxide, this two-gallon keg is also incised “Albany August 7, 1817,” above its spigot hole. The maker’s mark “BOYNTON” confirms the makers of this piece.

The second such water cooler, a three-gallon keg, will be sold in our October 31 auction. Recently consigned to us, this vessel was found roughly 20 years ago in a home in the Fairfield, NY, area and has never before been offered for public sale. Although unsigned, the striking similarity between this example and other known Boynton examples, notably the above-mentioned keg from our March 2009 auction, leaves no doubt of the makers of this piece. With cobalt-oxide equally vibrant to that on the two-gallon Boynton keg, the three-gallon example is also an exceptional representation of early Albany stoneware. A carefully-incised star-shaped blossom flanked by flowering vines adorns the front upper portion of the cooler and two fish face the incised date “1817″ on either side.

But the most exciting aspect of the newly-discovered keg is the large incised name, which fills a large portion of the middle of the keg’s front. The potter carefully incised in bold block letters “Doct.. Jonn. Sherwood / Fairfield / 1817″ onto the front of the cooler and research has revealed that this example is as historically significant as it is visually appealing. Dr. Jonathan Sherwood was an instrumental figure in the founding and

operation of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of New York (commonly, Fairfield Medical College). Officially founded in 1812, the Fairfield Medical College was the eleventh medical school established in the United States and the first west of the Hudson River. Only surviving until 1841, when the new medical school in Albany became the preferred institution for studying medicine in the region, Fairfield graduated over 600 doctors throughout its brief existence.

Sherwood was a practicing physician in Fairfield and a founding member of the board of trustees at Fairfield Medical College. Additionally, he served as the school’s registrar and received an official medical degree from Fairfield in 1818. Evidence of Sherwood’s impact on the school survive to this day in the form of letters and a pamphlet that he authored. Several letters that he wrote to Dr. Lyman Spalding, Fairfield Medical College’s first president, are published in Dr. Lyman Spalding: the originator of the United States pharmacopoeia… by Dr. James Alfred Spalding. Most letters concern guest lecturers, ordering books, enrolling students and the like, but one letter published on page 232 of Spalding’s book illustrates the greater concerns of Sherwood and his contemporaries. Sherwood wrote in great detail of the United States military’s campaign in Canada and the subsequent death of General Pike along with 200 American troops when the British detonated hidden underground munitions. Additionally, Sherwood authored, as registrar, the pamphlet, “Ordinances of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of the Western District, of the State of New-York.”

While most stoneware presentation pieces bear the names of people or institutions that carry little to no historic significance, this water cooler was made for a man about whom we know a great deal. While a presentation water cooler this early is highly unusual, the fact that the Boyntons made this example for a man who left a mark on history that is still remembered today makes this piece even more appealing. One can imagine Sherwood using this cooler in his office at Fairfield. And given the beauty and symmetry of this keg, I believe it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

A redware jar featured in our July 11 stoneware and redware auction is both extremely rare and important to the study of American pottery. The jar, stamped, “W. BURCHNELL / LONDON,” is one of the only known vessels signed by William Burchnell of Madison County, Ohio, and, therefore, serves as an important resource for understanding the type of redware manufactured by this potter in particular and early western Ohio earthenware potters in general.

When a collector consigned this redware jar to our auction, we initially searched our library of books on American potters for any information on potters named Burchnell. Finding this potter to be undocumented, we started guessing about the origin of this jar. With only the town name of London listed in the maker’s mark, we assumed that this jar was probably made in a New England town, possibly London, NH. However, we also saw similarities between this vessel and redware jars manufactured in Morgantown, VA (now WV).

An 1883 book, The History of Madison County, Ohio, answered some of our questions about this jar. According to this book, John Dungan, Esq., came to London, OH, in 1835 and recorded information about the town. According to this information, “There were two potteries in the village, one located on South Main street, in the rear of the present residence of Judge Clark, carried on by James M. Thompson, and the other located on the site of the Presbyterian Church carried on by W. W. Burchnell.”

Further research in Ohio Census and Death Records revealed additional information about Burchnell. He was born in the 1790s in Virginia, arrived in London, OH, before 1830 and lived there until at least 1840, judging by Census records. By 1850, William Burchnell had passed away, leaving his widow, Mahala, raising six children.

However, what makes William Burchnell more significant than an obscure, short-lived Ohio earthenware potter is the style of his ware as well as the larger potting community he participated in. As I mentioned, the Burchnell jar featured in our July 11 auction shares a lot of similarities with Morgantown redware (see Horvath and Duez, “The Potters and Pottery of Morgan’s Town, Virginia,” Ceramics in America 2004), notably its form and horizontal tulip decoration.

These similarities are more than coincidental. The other earthenware manufacturer in 1830s London, OH, was James M. Thompson, younger brother to the patriarch of Morgantown’s Thompson family of potters, John W. Thompson. According to Horvath and Duez, James M. Thompson “almost certainly had begun training with [Morgantown earthenware potter] Jacob Foulk Jr. about 1804” (see Horvath and Duez, p. 121).

According to The History of Madison County, Ohio, James M. Thompson took his Morgantown potting training and settled in London, OH, in 1813, at the fairly young age of 27. Among the first settlers of London, Thompson was also undoubtedly one of the first established potters in western OH. He continued operating in London until at least 1850, according to Census records. As one of the region’s first earthenware potters, as well as one of its longest tenured, James M. Thompson’s Morgantown-style of earthenware production could have possibly defined the type of pottery manufactured in early western Ohio’s cultural blank canvas. With hardly any signed examples to draw conclusions from, it is quite possible that some of the unsigned ware attributed to Morgantown actually originated from this overlooked region of pottery production.

When analyzing the Burchnell redware jar in our upcoming auction, it is important to note that it was made in this potting community with roots in Morgantown, VA (now WV). However, Burchnell’s ties to Morgantown may grow deeper still. According to the death records of Burchnell’s children, William Burchnell was born in Virginia. Along with the fact that he established a neighboring pottery to James M. Thompson, this information indicates that William Burchnell very likely began his potting career in Morgantown. Burchnell possibly trained alongside James M. Thompson and followed his footsteps to Western Ohio when the appropriate time came. With more research necessary, the significance of Burchnell to American earthenware potting history is proving to be greater than an unknown potter, who fortunately signed his wares.

An important example of Baltimore, MD, stoneware was recently rediscovered at a small estate auction in Baltimore County. Known to the public only through a fifty year old black-and-white photograph, this stoneware vessel, a mortar made by Peter Perine in 1812, remained in the same unknown collection until it was sold unadvertised in January of this year. While the significance of this mortar had been forgotten with time, its rediscovery has shed light on the type of stoneware manufactured by Peter Perine and other Baltimore stoneware potters before Henry Remmey arrived in the city.

Written in 1959, John N. Pearce’s master’s thesis, “The Early Baltimore Potters and their Wares,” still remains the most significant written work on Baltimore’s stoneware potters. While a lot of its information has become outdated, it fleshed out the major figures in the early Baltimore stoneware industry and is certainly the most valuable secondary resource I am consulting while working on my book on Baltimore stoneware. In addition to information, this thesis contains black-and-white photos of several examples of Baltimore stoneware and redware, most of which belong to the Maryland Historical Society but some were credited to private collections. One such piece is a stoneware mortar made by Peter Perine incised “P x P 1812.” This piece always intrigued me since it is the earliest known dated example of Baltimore stoneware as well as the only known piece of stoneware made by Peter Perine, patriarch of perhaps Baltimore’s most important potting family. However, the black-and-white photograph in Pearce’s thesis withheld a lot of information about the quality of this mortar, how evenly Perine fired it, the quality of the salt glaze and even the method of decoration. All of these attributes testify to whether or not a potter was skilled at manufacturing stoneware. And without being able to examine this “lost” piece of stoneware, in doing research on Baltimore stoneware, the Perine mortar was more of a curiosity than anything else to me.

1812 is a very early date for Baltimore stoneware. While Thomas Morgan, Baltimore’s first stoneware potter, began operation in 1793, the beginning of stoneware production in Baltimore as stoneware collectors and scholars know it should be traced to the start of the War of 1812 and the subsequent American reliance on native manufacture. In 1812, Thomas Morgan drastically expanded his manufactory and took on William and Thomas Amoss as partners. In 1812, David and Elisha Parr opened their manufactory, initially producing only earthenware. And, most significantly, in 1812, Henry Remmey and his son, Henry Harrison, moved from the early American stoneware center of Manhattan to superintend William Myers’ Baltimore Stoneware Manufactory. It was the knowledge and experience that the Remmeys brought to Baltimore, I argued in my article on the Remmeys in Baltimore (see Ceramics in America 2004), which transformed the Baltimore stoneware industry into the well-respected manufacturing hub it remained throughout the century.

The earliest known dated example of Baltimore stoneware, other than the Perine mortar, is dated 1819 (several known Morgan & Amoss pieces bear this date). In my article on the Remmeys in Baltimore, I made assumptions about the quality of Baltimore stoneware manufactured before their arrival in the city in 1812 but these assumptions were not based on concrete evidence. I had a large body of Baltimore stoneware to work with, all of which was manufactured after the Remmeys came to the city. Some of the finest stoneware produced in America was made in Baltimore between 1812 and about 1850. Well-fired vessels, intricate incised designs, artistic brushed floral motifs, even gray clay bodies with vibrant cobalt-oxide decorations, all compose many examples of Baltimore stoneware that still survive today. What has not survived are examples of Baltimore stoneware produced before the Remmeys’ arrival. I assumed that a stoneware pitcher excavated in Baltimore was made in this pre-historic era of Baltimore stoneware production. It was well-thrown but poorly-fired, hallmarks of a skilled potter’s inability to master the art of burning a kiln without rapid temperature fluctuation up to roughly 2300 degrees fahrenheit and sustain that temperature while the clay vitrifies and the salt reacts and bonds with the clay. However, without an example of stoneware definitively made in Baltimore during this early period, I was forced to make well-informed assumptions rather than concrete comparisons.

However, in January of this year, with the passing of a long-time antiques collector, a group of Perine family pottery, which had been hidden for fifty years, suddenly came to light. Among this group of pottery that was sold unadvertised at a local estate auction was the Perine mortar. Now in a private collection, the mortar tells the tale of the type of stoneware Baltimore’s homegrown potters were manufacturing at the time of the Remmeys’ arrival. This piece was not expertly fired. Perine probably did not get the kiln up to temperature, evidenced by the fact that the salt glaze did not adhere to the mortar evenly, the finish of this vessel ranging from glossy to matte. The mortar is well-thrown, evidence of Perine’s training as an earthenware potter. And perhaps most interesting, the mortar is decorated with an iron-oxide dip. Most often associated with the potteries of Frederick Carpenter and Barnabas Edmands in Charlestown, MA, and John Swann in Alexandria, VA, using iron oxide was a much cheaper method of elaborating a piece of stoneware than using cobalt oxide. The earliest Baltimore stoneware potters knew their role in the market was as a cheap, local alternative to the higher-quality stoneware manufactured in England and northern American cities, such as New York and Hartford, Connecticut. Decorating with iron oxide would have kept their costs down significantly and been more in keeping with their skill level as potters.

It is both exciting and puzzling that a piece of stoneware so well documented could wind up selling without fanfare at an estate auction. We have heard many similar stories as this one, where heirs inherit important stoneware and unwittingly dispose of it at yard sales, flea markets, unheralded auctions and the like. In other cases, keeping significant information, such as appraisals and photocopies from books, with important stoneware has often kept other pieces of stoneware from a similar fate. This example was fortunately rediscovered but how much rare and valuable American stoneware ends up getting lost in the shuffle?