Abstract
Domestically produced, lead-glazed red earthenwares (or redwares) are among the most frequently recovered artifacts from 18th-century Pennsylvania sites. Utilitarian pottery met the colonial consumer’s need for inexpensive, everyday wares for food preparation, dairying, and tableware. Comparison of two data sources resulted in the organization of an incipient type series for southeastern Pennsylvania redwares. A survey of a variety of primary documents yielded a folk lexicon for some redware vessels. These terms have been tentatively ascribed to reconstructed vessels from six archaeological assemblages from the southeastern Pennsylvania region. A pattern of continuity in a number of vessel forms has also been observed in the redware assemblages analyzed. Prior to the initiation of redware manufacture in America, a flourishing network of commercial trade throughout 17th-century Europe contributed to the ethnic fusion of specific vessel shapes. By the late 1700s, immigrant craftsmen had incorporated these specific vessel shapes into their potting repertoire.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allan, John 1999 Producers, Distributors, and Redistributers: The Role of the Southwestern Ports in the Seventeenth-Century Ceramics Trades. In Old and New Worlds, Geoff Egan and R. L. Michael, editors, pp. 278–288. Oxbow Books, Oxford, England.
Baart, Jan, Wiard Kroot, Ab Lagerweij, Nina Ockers, Hans Van Regteren Altena, Tuuk Stam, Henk Stoepker, Gerard Stouthart, and Monika Van Der Zwan 1977 Opgravingen in Amsterdam. Fibula-Van Dishoeck, Haarlem, Amsterdam.
Barker, David, and Pat Halfpenny 1990 Unearthing Staffordshire: Towards a New Understanding of Eighteenth-Century Ceramics. City of Stoke-on-Trent Museum and Art Galley, UK.
Beaudry, Mary C. 1988 Words for Things: Linguistic Analysis of Probate Inventories. In Documentary Archaeology in the New World, Mary C. Beaudry, editor, pp. 43–50. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England.
Beaudry, Mary C., Janet Long, HenryM. Miller, Fraser D. Neiman, and Garry W. Stone 1991 A Vessel Typology for Early Chesapeake Ceramics: The Potomac Typology System. In Approaches to Material Culture Research for Historical Archaeologists, George L. Miller, Olive R. Jones, Lester A. Ross, and Teresita Majewski, editors, pp. 11–32. Society for Historical Archaeology, California, PA.
Beiler, Rosalind J. 1997 Distributing Aid to Believers in Need: The Religious Foundations of Transatlantic Migration. Pennsylvania History, 64:73–87.
Ben-Amos, Dan 1969 Analytical Categories and Ethnic Genres. Genre, 2(3): 275–301.
Benes, Peter, and Jane Montague Benes 1989 Introduction: Unlocking the Semantic and Quantitative Doors in Early American Probate Inventories. In American Probate Inventories, Peter Benes, editor, pp. 5–16. Boston University, Boston, MA.
Bower, Beth A. 1985 Pottery-Making Trade in Colonial Philadelphia: The Growth of an Early Urban Industry. In Domestic Pottery of the Northeastern United States: 1625–1850, Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh, editor, pp. 265–283. Academic Press, Inc., New York, NY.
Breininger, Lester P., Jr. 1979 Potters of the Tulpehocken. Ron’s Printing Service, Myerstown, PA.
Brown, Marley R., III 1973 Ceramics from Plymouth, 1621–1800: The Documentary Record. In Ceramics in America, Ian M. G. Quimby, editor, pp. 41–74. University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Canny, Nicholas 1986 The Irish Background to Penn’s Experiment. In The World of William Penn, Richard Dunn and Mary Maples Dunn, editors, pp. 139–141. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
Clemens, Hans J. 1782 J. Clemens Bucks County Probate, Hans Herr House, Lancaster, PA.
Comstock, H. E. 1994 The Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley Region. The Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winston-Salem, NC.
Cosans, Elizabeth J. 1975 Franklin Court IV Final Report, Vol. I–IV. Report to Independence National Historic Park, Philadelphia, PA.
Dent, Richard J., Lee Decker, Meta Janowitz, Marie-Lorraine Pipes, Ingrid Wueber, MallaryA. Gordon, Henry M. R. Holt, Christy Roper, Gerard Scharfenberger, and Sharla Azzizi 1997 Archaeological and Historical Investigations of the Metropolitan Detention Center Site (36Ph91), Philadelphia, PA. Report to the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Harrisburg, PA, from Louis Berger and Associates, Washington, DC.
Dow, George Francis 1927 The Arts and Crafts of New England 1704–1775. The Wayside Papers, Topsfield, MA.
Dunn, Richard S., and Mary Maples Dunn 1985 World of William Penn. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
Erickson, Michelle, and Robert Hunter 2001 Dots, Dashes, and Squiggles: Early English Slipware Technology. In Ceramics in America, Robert Hunter, editor, pp. 94–114. Chipstone Foundation, Hanover, England.
Gaimster, David R. M. 1986 Preliminary Observations on the Post-Medieval Pottery from the Alter Market Site, Duisburg, W. Germany. Post-Medieval Archaeology, 20:19–30.
Gaimster, David R. M. 1988 Lower Rhineland Slipware Found in Britain. In Keramik Von Niederrhein, Joachim Naumann, editor, pp. 167–178. Weltkunst/Heft, Koln, Germany.
Gaimster, David R. M., and Mark Redknap 1992 Everyday and Exotic Pottery from Europe. Oxbow Books, Oxford, UK.
Gaimster, David R. M., Mark Redknap, and Hans Helmut Wegner (Editors) 1988 Zer Keramik des Mittelaters und der beginnenden Neuzeit im Rheinland. British Archaeological Reports, International Series 440. London, England.
Gottesman, Rita Susswein 1938 The Arts and Crafts in New York, 1726–1776. New York Historical Society, Albany, NY.
Herr, Adam 1728 Adam Herr Chester County Probate, Hans Herr House, Lancaster, PA.
Herrick, Chessman A. 1926 White Servitude in Pennsylvania. Joseph John McVey, Publisher, Philadelphia, PA.
Hurst, John G. 1981 Weser Slipware from Britain and North America. In Coppengrave: Studien zur Topferei des 13. Bis 19. Jahrhunderts in Nordwestdeutschland, Hans-Georg Stephan, editor, pp. 142–145. Materialhefte zur Ur-Und Fruhgeschichte Niedersachsen 17, Hildesheim, Germany.
James, Arthur E. 1978 Potters and Potteries of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Schiffer Publishing Ltd., Exton, PA.
Janowitz, Meta F., Kate T. Morgan, and Nan Rothschild 1985 Cultural Pluralism and Pots in New Amsterdam—New York City. In Domestic Pottery of the Northeastern United States 1625–1850, Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh, editor, pp. 29–46. Academic Press, Inc., New York, NY.
Kendig, Henry 1725 Henry Kendig Probate Inventory, Hans Herr House, Lancaster, PA.
Konigmacher, Christina 1793 Widow Konigmacher’s Day Book, Historical Society of Cocalico Township, Ephrata, PA.
Lasansky, Jeanette 1982 Lancaster County Pennsylvania Pottery. Antiques, (September):538–550.
Lasansky, Jeanette 1990 Berks County Redware Pottery 1767–1909. Antiques, (January):325–339.
Lefever, David 1767 David Lefever Bucks County Probate Inventory, Hans Herr House, Lancaster, PA.
Ludtke, Hartwig 1990 English Pottery in Hedeby, Schleswig, and Hollingstedt. In Everyday and Exotic Pottery from Europe, David Gaimster and Mark Redknap, editors, pp. 70–75. Oxbow Books, Exeter, UK.
Miller, George L. 1991 Classification and Economic Scaling of Nineteenth-Century Ceramics. In Approaches to Material Culture Research for Historical Archaeologists, George L. Miller, Olive R. Jones, Lester A. Ross, and Teresita Majewski, editors, pp. 37–58. Society for Historical Archaeology, California, PA.
Myers, Susan H. 1980 Handcraft to Industry. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
Noël Hume, Ivor 1969 Artifacts of Colonial America. Vintage Books, New York, NY.
Orser, Charles E., and Brian M. Fagan 1995 Historical Archaeology. Harper Collins College Publishers, New York, NY.
Pearce, Jacqueline 1992 Border Wares: Post Medieval Pottery in London, 1500–1700. HMSO, London.
Pearce, Jacqueline 1999 Pottery Industry of the Surrey-Hampshire Borders in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century. In Old and New Worlds, Geoff Egan and R. L. Michael, editors, pp. 246–262. Oxbow Books, Oxford, England.
Pearce, Jacqueline, A. Vince, and M. A. Jenner 1985 A Dated Type-Series of London Medieval Pottery Part 2: London-Type Ware. Special Paper No. 6, London and Middlesex Archaeology Society.
Pennsylvania Gazette 1729–1785 Pennsylvania Gazette Advertisements (Vol. 1–9). Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Prime, Alfred Cox 1929 Arts and Crafts of Philadelphia, Maryland, and North Carolina 1721–1785. The Walpole Society, Philadelphia, PA.
Rhead, G. Wooliscroft, and Frederick Alfred Rhead 1906 Staffordshire Pots and Potters. Hutchinson and Company, London, England.
Rine, Joseph 1800 Joseph Rine’s Pottery Bill of Sale. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Schiffer, Margaret B. 1974 Chester County, Pennsylvania Inventories 1684–1850. Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., Exton, PA.
Shackel, Paul 1993 Personal Discipline and Material Culture. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville.
Soderlund, Jean R. 1983 William Penn and the Founding of Pennsylvania 1680–1684. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
Steen, Carl 1999 Pottery, Intercolonial Trade, and Revolution: Domestic Earthenwares and the Development of an American Social Identity. Historical Archaeology, 33(3): 62–72.
Stephan, Hans-Georg 1981 Coppengrave: Studien zur Topferei des 13. Bis 19. Jahrhunderts in Nordwestdeutschland. Materialhefte zur Ur-Und Fruhgeschichte Niedersachsen 17, Hildesheim, Germany.
Stephan, Hans-Georg 1987 Renaissance Decorated Pottery in Central Europe: Influences and Links of Production Centers throughout Europe. Tutte Druckerie GmbH, Salweg, Germany.
Thirsk, Joan 1986 Agricultural Conditions in England, Circa 1680. In The World of William Penn, Richard Dunn and Mary Maples Dunn, editors, pp. 88–95. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
Turnbaugh, Sarah Peabody 1985 Imitation, Innovation, and Permutation: The Americanization of Bay Colony Lead-Glazed Redwares. In Domestic Pottery of the Northeastern United States: 1625–1850, Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh, editor, pp. 209–225. Academic Press, Inc., New York, NY.
Watkins, C. Malcolm 1978 North Devon Pottery in the Seventeenth Century. In English Pottery and Porcelain, Paul Atterbury, editor, pp. 12–15. Universe Books, New York, NY.
Watkins, Lurs Woodside 1950 Early New England Potters and Their Wares. Howard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Wedgewood, Josiah, and Thomas H. Ormsbee 1947 Staffordshire Pottery. Robert M. McBride & Co., New York, NY.
Wilcoxen, Charlotte 1987 Foreign Wares Distributed by the Dutch. In Dutch Trade and Ceramics in America in the Seventeenth Century. Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY.
Wireman, Henry 1781 Henry Wireman Bucks County Inventory, Hans Herr House, Lancaster, PA.
Wondrausch, Mary 1986 Mary Wondrausch on Slipware. A and C Black, London, England.
Yentsch, Anne Elizabeth 1994 A Chesapeake Family and Their Slaves. Cambridge University Press, UK.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gibble, P.E. Eighteenth-Century Redware Folk Terms and Vessel Forms: A Survey of Utilitarian Wares from Southeastern Pennsylvania. Hist Arch 39, 33–62 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03376685
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03376685