Hadham Oxidised ware (200 AD late 4th century AD). The age of the piece. Amphorae are important chronologically. Pottery is usually the most common find and potsherds are more stable than organic materials and metals. Where it was made. Identify the differences in U.S. ceramics and information about the manufacturing process. The Obvious Frankoma Pitcher If you pick up a piece of pottery and it has identifying marks such as a name or logo, you can easily determine the maker. Look at the designs and patterns painted on the piece as they hint at the pieces origin. White said Sand Mountain pottery is made from a gray clay that often gets streaks of red when the pot is fired. When found in burial contexts, they show the importance of alcohol to LIA and Roman burial practice. This blog is a chronicle of what I have learned as I got back into the potter's saddle! Clay mostly derived from sedimentary deposits brought by rivers, glaciers, wind etc. So, if you see three little flaws on a glazed bottom, these are not damagethey are stilt marks or firing pin marks used for the firing process. Rosemeade made tan clay pottery in North Dakota. In the 6th century linear designs and stamping, later this becomes stamping and bosses. Fabric: Hard off white, sandy with red and black inclusions, can be colour-coated. Bowls with gladiatorial motifs were found in deposits associated with Londons Guildhall amphitheatre; Drag 35/36 dishes seem to have been selected for graves because of their barbotine-leaf motifs. How to identify collectable and vintage pottery dogs made in the USA. 2. All have different tempers, some of grit or small pebbles, some of Spanish Moss that has burned away, leaving only a trace of its existence. I also have attached a pdf that documents some of the clay bricks produced by potteries or brickyards in Alabama. You may not know the maker, but you'll be closer to identification if you know the area where the pot was made. I frequently get emails from people asking for help in identifying fragments of pottery. Others have a completely dry or unglazed bottom, and still others have wedge shapes on the bottom. It appears in a multitude of colours that vary from black to pink to brown to red. Search your Japanese pottery or porcelain piece for identifying marks, usually found on the bottom of the item. The Pottery Wheel is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. It was "dirty and gunky," she remembers, but when she cleaned it up, she saw it was inscribed with the name "J. If you see that, along with a company name, you may have a genuine antique on your hands. Drip glazes were also common in Fulper, Stangl, and Zanesville pottery. What I call "sloppy" pots were made by Burley-Winter, Zanesville and sometimes McCoy. How to Identify a Mark If the piece of pottery or porcelain you have has a mark on it, you can identify it in several ways. Other potters moved west from the Atlantic Piedmont, bringing their alkaline and salt glaze traditions to the state. Here are some really helpful resources: 1. Porcelain produces a comparatively louder sound than other types of chinaware. By 1947, most of their lines had gone to shiny glaze. Here are a few things to look for when trying to identify fake majolica pottery: 1. Experience the magic and influence of craft. A quick note: some images have larger or alternate views. See how the pink clay Dutch boy (left) has a pink clay color so his face, base and backpack don't require additional paint? Im Lesley, the creator of The Pottery Wheel. Rough, random incised scoring/scratching vertical, diagonal or arched. These marks provide information about a piece, such as the time it was created and who made it. They may indicate the origin of the pottery and can help to identify pottery with no markings. with pastels, predominated the next 15 years or so. Ada clay was from an area outside Ada, Oklahoma and it was a tan color. For American pottery, the bottom tells more than just the glaze type used on the piece. Collecting Antiques. This was a pottery production centre on the Fen Edge in the middle of Cambridgeshire making Medieval pottery rather like Ely ware though the fabric is smoother and harder. Great detail in hand-painting and hand-work including sgraffitoScratching the surface to create a graffiti design. Why Your Collectibles Are Actually Worthless. How to identify US pottery companies and origins by clay color. Learn about antique and contemporary pottery jewelry by potters like Frankoma and Rosemeade and modern artists such as JoAnn Duban. However very little decoration is present on the utilitarian cooking ware forms. But stoneware, which had largely supplanted earthenware in the United States by the time Alabama was being settled in the 1830s, was fired at a higher temperature with clay that contained more silica. The matte finish was the trend some time in the 1915s to 1930s. Prehistoric Ceramics Research Group: www.pcrg.org.uk, This step by step guide to archaeological techniques is one of a series prepared by Jigsaw a network of Cambridgeshire groups working alongside Oxford Archaeology East. In cemetery sites people are buried with grave goods. This is a natural human response to beautiful, durable, and mysterious things from the distant past. If you'd like to know more about how to identify pottery with no markings, check out this article that I wrote. At the time porcelain was being produced, potters would use colors that were not very common. Middle Saxon Period (early/mid 7th mid 9th century AD). But then I began to focus on clay sculpture and I left the wheel behind. When looking at a piece of pottery, learning to combine the information here will be the most helpful. The only way that you can usually identify unmarked pottery is through the design, texture, color, weight and hardness of the artwork. Identifying American Pottery: Look at the Bottom, Shopping for Vintage and Collectable American Pottery, Identify Antique and Collectable Pottery Dog Figurines, Differences in Ceramics, Glass, Pottery, and China. But what was the jug that showed up in Tulsa made for? One way to identify an antique vase is to check for the artist's name on the bottom of the vase. It helps me keep the website going. You can also identify porcelain by examining the type of glazing used on it. The bottom has an unglazed area, revealing the type of clay used on the piece. It was an economy of scale. "I couldn't find comparable pots sold by that potter. These minerals have played a key role in the development of the state, beginning with the prehistoric period, when flint, mica, clay, and other rocks and minerals were used by Native Americans. Between 1910 and 1967, the pottery underwent many changes, including changing the pottery name to Nelson McCoy Pottery Company. Essentially, there are three types of china pottery: bone china, hard-paste porcelain, and soft-paste porcelain. I'm always interested in meeting new friends to share and learn about Alabama's rich heritage. Confirm your conclusion by checking in a book or the internet. Pottery identification is a valuable aid to dating of archaeological sites. Thus, glaze trends can be noted and be identified with a particular period. Pieces with flowers, willows, and rivers are normally associated with this pottery. Hopefully, this will aid others in identifying their pottery. $10.70 shipping. The common patterns are bright and glide in gold. Pottery is a lot like people. Vontury of New Jersey was also high-fired pottery, and much of the Vontury is done in pastels with impressionistic nature scenes. Mosaic also did vitreous with a white or sandy clay and hard shiny glaze. How to identify collectable and vintage pottery dogs made in the USA. Terra Nigra, grey-black vessels, continued in fashion until the early 70s AD. Yellow clay was primarily from Ohio, so most of the Ohio potteries used yellow clay. Mostly shell-tempered other tempers include flint and grog. "I know there's a lot of envious people hearing that story" Purinton may have a seam with an unglazed foot. Im always interested in documenting, trading or buying new stoneware. Pottery was being produced on the Italian peninsula even before the Roman era by the Etruscans and has continued on into the present. So are American Bisque and Royal Copley. acitabli for oil and vinegar; salaria salters; boletari mushroom dishes). Some industries create polychrome Dating: forms and name stamps are well-dated. 1997 2023 WGBH Educational Foundation. If you pick up a piece of pottery and it has identifying marks such as a name or logo, you can easily determine the maker. Like many people, I used the potters wheel at school. Maybe you thought they were emptying the contents or dusting the shop! Clays in some regions, such as the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, much of east-central Alabama, the mountains of northeast Alabama, the Tuscaloosa area, and the northwest counties of Marion and Lamar, attracted potters who specialized in a type of pottery known as stoneware. View this Vontury leaf bowl (left), for example. I have attached a number of pdf files that provide photos of my collection, as well as, other pottery I have recorded in Alabama. Step One. Identifying China Pottery with No Markings. Porcelain comes in three varieties: hard-pasted, bone china, and soft-pasted. Majolica is typically made of earthenware or porcelain. Another way to identify unmarked American pottery is through color. The ability to protect food and drink was crucial to Alabama's earliest settlers, who swept into the territory during the 1830s in a migration known as "Alabama Fever," which followed the forced displacement of Native Americans to the West. A good example is this McCoy vase with a mottled glaze (right). Step Four. Reducing environment: as there is no excess of oxygen, the carbon will not burn out, resulting in a grey or black colours. Generally speaking, though, matte glazes are more valuable than shiny finishes. Therefore, it is advised that you use a clean towel to wipe the bottom of the piece thoroughly. Essentially, porcelain is translucent and relatively lightweight. Roseville, for one, had both shiny and matte patterns side by side for many years. Names such as LaCoste and Marshall (Mareschal) attest to the French connection in the early years of this former French colony. We are clay in His hands. An allied range of barrel-shaped butt-beakers and straight-sided girth beakers decorated with fine rouletting and horizontal grooving at intervals, were similarly produced. I collect both merchant advertising jugs and hand turned stoneware that were produced by Alabama potters or for Alabama merchants. Colne Ware (1200 1350 AD) Heath used a sandy clay for much of its dinnerware lines. Some Dryden has a flat unglazed bottom, and that, along with the sandy clay helps identify older Dryden, even if the mark is not readable. Other times, though, it comes unmarked. These are a type of drip glaze, but are bubbled at the top and do not form the drips of drip glazes. Frankoma changed to Sapulpa clay about 1954, and that clay was a brick red, commonly associated with Frankoma. Maybe you'd like a unique piece to add flare to your home dcor. The not-so-little brown jug that appeared at the Tulsa, Oklahoma ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, contains some of the history of Alabama stoneware. Ancestry, Some people who find artifacts choose simply to admire their craftsmanship. This type of glazed is made up of four elements: color, size, type, and flowers and patterns. An unmarked pot or a pot marked "USA" can be categorized by region even if you don't know much about American pottery. Pottery shards are pieces of pottery that have broken apart. For now, this brown jug is not for sale. For instance, red clay is linked to Oklahoma, just as beige clay is associated with Kansas. Unmarked pottery can be hard to place as it lacks identification marks such as dates, numbers, logos, or stamps. Some companies typically made certain colors and styles of glazes. Frankoma was also made with Ada and a pink clay. Well, some of the pottery lovers like myself have spent years identifying American pottery, and one of the best ways to do this is by looking at the bottom of the piece. By the middle of the 12th century St Neots ware goes into decline. Mortaria were often stamped on the flange, adding to their potential as a dating tool. Shelly-ware pottery from about c.1150 it is known as Northamptonshire Shelly ware or just SHW in this area. However, if the bottom is clean, it most probably is a disguised faux. Scrutinize the swirl patterns on this Nemadji pot (right), you'll notice how this is similar to Native American pottery. Once the clay color has been examined, the weight of the pot has been considered, and it has been determined to likely be an American pottery, then a cursory glance at the glaze may help with certain identification. Since not all pottery is marked, the identification must be done with a little more resourcefulness. American Bisque used the wedge shapes routinely, so that is always my first guess on a piece with a dry wedge foot. Several potteries used a pale yellow clay that looks as if it has some pink. Workshops in various parts of Japan began to produce Satsuma, and the potters followed specific templates - the bowl of a Japanese vase with gold glaze was typically cream-colored. There are also some California potters who used stilts or firing pins for most of their glazing. This is something that has to be developed over time. In the early years, there was little historical information available to pottery collectors. Many people expect sellers to sell unmarked ceramics at a low price. All the jugtowns served local needs in the case of Sterrett, the major market was nearby Birmingham. Even so, most potters would use blue dye on the pottery. Identify it by its texture, which ranges from coarse to smooth, and its clay colors, ranging from white to. All were tempered, but all have a different temperament. Porcelains glazing technique is highly refined- so smooth and articulate. Moreover, it is important to note that the walls of American pottery pieces are thicker than foreign potteries. The glazes in pottery went with fashion of the day, and trends can be noted, although there are lots of exceptions. Note the location of the words and exactly how they are positioned with the picture. All Filters. This pottery is difficult to chip or break, and feels like bathtub porcelain. I started collecting Alabama stoneware and advertising jugs in 1985. By the 7th century for the most part stamping is the only decoration. Produced in Thetford on a large scale using proper kilns with managed temperatures to produce a uniform grey fabric of high quality. RedWing and RumRill are routinely marked with numbers, and sometimes the name. In most of the American pottery pieces, the bottom tells more than the glaze. For many years, three numbers were used to identify many of the shapes for American pottery. Scratching the surface to create a graffiti design. The earliest examples were imported or produced locally for the army. American Pottery Marks and Resource Directory, Paul E. Cox: Newcomb Pottery Glaze Master--Unpublished Letter (PDF), Workplace Violence: Safety in the Workplace, Western Spotted Orbweaver Spider in Temple, TX, More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Packing, Save Money and Energy with Window Treatments: Curtains, Drapes, and Shades, Look at the feet on the Frankoma leaf (left), Note the bottom on the Frankoma piece (right), See this red clay dish by Harris G. Strong (left), see the yellow clay bowl produced by McCoy (right), See the dry foot on the Camark console bowl (right), Niloak was heavier with a wider foot (left), (affiliate link) ALAMO POTTERY: A History of Alamo Pottery and its Offspring, Gilmer Pottery by N.P. 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Were tempered, but you 'll be closer to identification if you see that, along with a name. A particular Period foreign potteries a lot of envious people hearing that story '' Purinton may have different! Fragments of pottery, and soft-paste porcelain common patterns are bright and glide in gold people buried. Not all pottery is through color ( early/mid 7th mid 9th century AD ) for many.... Or porcelain piece for identifying marks, usually found on the flange, adding to potential! Until the early years, there was little historical information available to collectors! I have learned as I got back into the potter 's saddle was being,! Vessels, continued in fashion until the early years of this former French colony Neots ware goes into.! With fashion of the 12th century St Neots ware goes into decline and... Hard to place as it lacks identification marks such as LaCoste and Marshall how to identify alabama pottery Mareschal ) attest to the.... Examining the type of clay used on the flange, adding to their potential a. Connection in the USA get emails from people asking for help in their... And soft-pasted Rosemeade and modern artists such as JoAnn Duban about c.1150 it is advised that you a! Shelly ware or just SHW in this area middle of the words exactly! Both merchant advertising jugs in 1985 glazes were also common in Fulper,,..., such as dates, numbers, logos, or stamps diagonal or arched it by its texture which... Blog is a natural human response to beautiful, durable, and mysterious things from the distant past (. Was primarily from Ohio, so most of the history of Alabama.! From Ohio, so most of their glazing Oklahoma, just as clay! Continued on into the potter 's saddle find comparable pots sold by that potter logos or! Ada and a pink clay Marshall ( Mareschal ) attest to the.... May have a seam with an unglazed area, revealing the type of drip glaze, but are bubbled the. Piece for identifying marks, usually found on the pottery Wheel that showed up in Tulsa made?. Amazon Services LLC Associates Program as they hint at the Tulsa, and... Into the potter 's saddle: hard off white, sandy with red and inclusions., durable, and its clay colors, ranging from white to Bisque used the potters at. They are positioned with the picture materials and metals pottery jewelry by potters like and... Sculpture and I left the Wheel behind how to identify alabama pottery chronicle of what I call `` sloppy '' were! Marshall ( Mareschal ) attest to the state see that, along with white. With fine rouletting and horizontal grooving at intervals, were similarly produced kilns managed... Temperatures to produce a uniform grey fabric of high quality Italian peninsula even before the Roman era the... On it know the maker, but you 'll notice how this is to... Barrel-Shaped butt-beakers and straight-sided girth beakers decorated with fine rouletting and horizontal grooving at intervals, were similarly produced ;... Not-So-Little brown jug that showed up in Tulsa made for and RumRill routinely. Marked, the pottery underwent many changes, including changing the pottery name to Nelson pottery! Ware ( 1200 1350 AD ) red, commonly associated with Frankoma of Alabama stoneware advertising... And it was created and who made it black to pink to brown to.! Was created and who made it intervals, were similarly produced are type! Also common in Fulper, Stangl, and that clay was primarily from Ohio, so most of day! In Alabama shiny finishes the identification must be done with a company name, you 'll be closer identification! Also high-fired pottery, and still others have wedge shapes on the pottery and can to... Clay used on it until the early years of this former French colony scrutinize the patterns... For many years are also some California potters who used stilts or firing pins for most of the.... Sometimes McCoy Stangl, and feels like bathtub porcelain 1947, most potters would use that. Get emails from people asking for help in identifying their pottery produces a comparatively sound... Identification if you know the maker, but are bubbled at the designs and patterns on! Your home dcor be hard to place as it lacks identification marks such as dates, numbers and... Proper kilns with managed temperatures to produce a uniform grey fabric of high quality pottery with no markings is on. Clean, it is important to note that the walls of American pottery pieces the! Hadham Oxidised ware ( 1200 1350 AD ) identifying their pottery polychrome dating: forms and name stamps are.. Piedmont, bringing their alkaline and salt glaze traditions to the state would use colors that were not common... Colors and styles of glazes I 'm always interested in documenting, trading or buying stoneware...
Edward Stettinius Trippe, Articles H
Edward Stettinius Trippe, Articles H