Stoneware – an unlikely palette for amazing art

I first learned about Dave the Potter when Winterthur, the former DuPont estate that is now a museum, held an exhibit of his stoneware pieces.

The exhibit was called “‘I made this jar’ The Life and Works of the Enslaved African-American Potter, Dave.” When I arrived at the exhibit back in 2000, I was struck by both the enormity of the pieces and their beauty and craftsmanship.

These were handled, made and signed by a man who was a slave in Edgefield, S.C., at a time when African Americans were forbidden from reading and writing. But there on Dave Drake’s pieces were poems. Here are some verses from his works:

“I wonder where is all my relations / Friendship to all and every nation”

“Dave belongs to Mr. Miles / where the oven bakes and the pot biles”

He is estimated to have made 40,000 jars, jugs, churns, pitchers and more from the 1830s to 1860s. Dave, who was born around 1800 and died in the 1870s, is believed to be the only black potter to sign and date his pieces (around 100 of them). The Smithsonian bought two of his jars in 1996, including one with the verse: “I made this jar all of cross / If you don’t repent, you will be lost.” It was inscribed “May 3 1862 LM Dave.”  LM apparently referred to one of his owners Lewis Miles.

I thought about Dave the potter this week when I ventured out to the Brandywine River Museum to see an exhibit of decorated American stoneware pottery from the 18^th and 19^th centuries. The exhibit ends on Sunday. Ten to 12 pieces were displayed in the lobby of the museum, home to the works of the Wyeth family of artists. (The pieces above are from Brandywine exhibit.)

Most of these lovely pieces were from Winterthur, and most were in the traditional gray tone with cobalt-blue decoration. The most interesting to me – and which I had not seen before – were a huge water carrier, small banks and a chicken feeder.

I’ve come across vintage stoneware jugs, crocks and jars at auction before, but often the bidding gets so high that I don’t even bother to jump in. At auction this week, a vintage stoneware jar sparked spirited bidding before the price stopped at $425 (see piece below left). It was a beautiful jar made for a wholesale dry goods company called S.F. Toadvine in Salisbury, Md. There was no potter’s name on the piece.

I have gotten some jugs at auction, including one inscribed F.H. Cowden Harrisburg. Mine has what looks like rust specks on the exterior and a big dimple (or is it a groove?) on one side. I also have a whiskey jug, some crocks and a jug made for Henry K. Wampole  & Co. Manufg. Pharmacists in Philadelphia. (See pieces above.)

Stoneware pieces were always functional, used in American homes to hold food before glass canning jars were made. Some were produced as inkwells, miniature jugs and crocks, pudding dishes, mugs, bottles and more.

They were decorated using various techniques by pottery-makers, some of whom distinguished their pieces with trademark designs and wrote their names in lovely script. The decorations included flowers, insects, animals, chickens and birds. People were rarely used (I did find one on the web – an F.H. Cowden jug with what was described as the head of a Native American).

There were always numbers on the pieces I came across and I wondered what they meant. Now, I know they represented how much the pieces would hold in gallons.

The jugs and jars were made with lids (cork or ceramic), but most of them found today have neither. Only two of my pieces have cork lids and I’m not sure if they’re the originals.

Stoneware pottery with salt glaze originated around 1720 in Philadelphia and Yorktown, Va., according to wikipedia. By the late 19^th century, it had moved north to New York, where the Crolius and Remmey families perfected their own version. By the early 19^th century, it was being made in most U.S. cities.  

Remmey’s pieces command very high prices today, along with Cowden & Wilcox of Harrisburg, Thomas Haig of Philadelphia and Crolius, of which I could find very few pieces for sale on the web. Apparently, they are extremely hard to find, just like Dave’s (one site recalled a Dave piece selling for $40,000 to $50,000).

At auction a couple years ago, as noted on the Crocker Farm auction site, pieces by Remmey, Haig and others sold for 3,000 to $39,000. Back in 2007, someone brought in three pieces made in Pennsylvania in the late 19^th century to an Antiques Roadshow in San Antonio, Texas. They included a 30-gallon jug and two smaller pieces, and all were appraised at $5,000. I found these prices for Cowden & Wilcox on another pottery auction site. (The pieces below are from the Brandywine exhibit. The one on the left is an inkwell.)