Heres a great peice of early /mid 1800s illinois stoneware, the hard to find size 4 gallons , crock has great color with a ovoid shape. Early salt glaze from Alton ILL. These Ulrich-Wietfeld vessels are some of the most sought after Illinois peices, they really made some of the finest pottery in Illinois. Crock has 3 small flakes under the rim, cant hardly see them from top rim , small flake off left handle, hairline between number and right side handle goes down about half way seen inside too. Great peice of early Illinois history.
Kiln owners often produced their crafts and taught their skills to apprentices. Each site had one or two potters working a kick-wheel, making salt and slip glazed stoneware. Local pieces were often characterized by the use of high fire clay, Albany slip (a dark brown glaze), and salt glaze. Potters added decorations to make their work more artistic, often they used indigo hand-lettering. Craftsmen passed down techniques for making crocks, churns, pots, jars, and jugs through the generations.
Upper Alton Stoneware
A.H Serren was a New York native who moved to Denton County and operated a pottery kiln from the mid to late 1800s. There is not much known about Serren, but remnants of the site give evidence to a specialty in salt-glazed utilitarian stoneware. In 1981, the National Register of Historic Places reported that the site may have had up to 5 round kilns.
Wilson specialized in salt and slip-glazed stoneware such as jars, churns, jugs, and bowls. Some of his more unique items included clay marbles and tobacco pipes. The pottery remains found around his site showed use of cobalt blue calligraphy, a popular design of the period.
Travel back in time as you explore the beautiful city of Red Wing. Led by our local expert guide, view some of the most impressive Victorian homes of the period as well as the historic St. James Hotel. Visit the Pottery Museum of Red Wing and admire the numerous true vintage pieces on site such as stoneware, dinnerware, folk art, and more! Stop at the Sheldon Theatre, among the oldest operating theatres in Minnesota and host to thousands of large national touring acts, international artists, and local performers alike.
In August, 1983, the Collectors of Illinois Pottery and Stoneware was formed as a club to unite collectors of pottery and stoneware made in Illinois and to facilitate their sharing information, ideas, interests and items for trade or sell. The main event of the club is the annual convention held in October. The convention's many events include a business meeting, show/sale, displays, seminars, banquet and auction. Also, a stoneware related commemorative of very limited production is available each year to honor this annual event.
One of their places of operation was on the west side of Dresden Ave. about where the Ruggs Brothers Grocery warehouse now stands and possibly also where a part of the Decorating Shop of The Potters Co-Operative Co. now stands. Here Tanners Run, at that time cut through and exposed the big lower clay strata and in addition to this there was plenty of the yellow brick clay, from the decomposed. upper shales, on the surface which would be satisfactory for the making of both red and fire bricks, right at their hand and water in abundance from the small stream for the mixing, while wood for the burning covered the hill slopes immediately adjoining.
Although the credit must go to James Bennett for the establishment of the pottery business in this district it is only fair to add that there were earlier efforts in that line. John Kountz made red stoneware in 1817 some little distance west of the location of the Walker brick plant and Joseph Wells made a similar ware in a little place attached to his residence in Wellsville in 1826, which he continued, more or less intermittently till 1856. Phillip Brown, Olivar Griffith, Samuel Watson made crude wares at Lisbon before 1825.
In 1842, James Salt, Fredrick Mear, John Hancock and James Ogden, formed a company, took over this building, which was called, "The Mansion House" and began the manufacture of Rockingham and Yellow Ware. Mr. Hancock seems to have been the more skilled of this group of men, coming to America from England in 1828. He first went to South Amboy, N.J. and erected a pottery there. In 1840, Mr. Hancock, accompanied by his son, Frederick, went to Louisville, Kentucky, and started a stoneware pottery there, remaining there, however, but one season, when he came to East Liverpool, Mr. Hancock did not long survive in the new firm, passing away the same year of 1842.
Returning from the war in 18d5, Mr.. Brunt found the plants idle the packer Thompson having left to avoid the draft. Feeling that the unsettled times did not justify the operation of both the plants he sold the upper part (now Hall China No. 1) to the packer, John Thompson (who had returned), William Joblin, James Taylor, (a brother of John N. Taylor) and John Hardwick.
Elijah Webster made a very acceptable grade of stoneware at his plant and had every prospect of an uninterupted run of trade when the war times proved too much for his limited capital and he was forced to close the plant. The writer can recall Mr. Webster very distinctly in the late sixties when he worked as the mould maker and modeler for Agner, Foutts & Co.
This firm began business with the manufacture of Rockingham and Yellow Ware in 1864 upon the site where they are still located. In the beginning they took over the equipment of a small stoneware plant which had been erected a few years earlier by Elijah Webster. There were four brothers of this family, William, Samuel , Thomas and John.... The father William Cartwright Senior, came to this country in 1844, locating in East Liverpool. A year later the family was sent for. The Cartwrights were natives of Chropshire England. The four brothers all saw service in the Civil War. When the pottery was first started only William Cartwright, Jr., and Holland Manley were connected with it.
In the year 1867, John H. Burgess, his sister, Mrs. Ann Viney and Albert Webster, purchased the "Old Arbuckle Mill" (present site of the West End Pottery Company) and converted it into a Pottery for the manufacture of stoneware, which was made for about two years with considerable success. The conversion of a mill was considerable of a task and the father of the writer, William L. Calhoun, was hired to do this work. The writer remembers this work from the fact that he has
This firm converted the stoneware plant of Burgess, Webster & Viney into a pottery for the manufacture of Rockingham and Yellow Ware and were not long in the business till they sold the plant to Samuel Worcester & Son. At some time in the course of its life this pottery received the name of "The Star Pottery" under which name it was operated as long as it existed.,
In about the year 1866 Starkey formed a partnership with one Nathaniel Simms, (brother of B. C. Simms of The C. C. Thompson Pottery Co) land they built a two kiln stoneware plant where the Dresden pottery now stands. The clay for the ware was taken from the lower Kittanning horizon, on which the present pottery now stands. Mr. Starkey did not remain long in this firm and a little later Homer Laughlin was engaged with Simms in this stoneware plant. Laughlin, likewise did not stay long in this venture and it would seem that the plant was later operated under the name of Ferguson & Simms.
Early in the present century two brothers, named Harry and Louis Benty took over the Corn Knob works and began the manufacture of a ware which for a time attracted much attention. The Benty Brothers called this product "Oakwood Ware" from its close resemblance to the famous Rockwood product. After operating the Corns plant for a time the brothers built a small plant on Laura Avenue near the Waterworks upper pumping station and made this ware for several years. The plant was later destroyed by fire and the Benty Brothers being cramped for capital did not rebuild. This passed the chance for a unique product in ceramics which might
(1) THOMAS HADEN is a native of Fenton, England, and learned the trade of decorating in the Staffordshire potteries. He came to East Liverpool in 1874, and shortly after established a decorating shop on upper Broadway across from the north end of The Goodwin Brothers Pottery, in a brick building now used by The Harrison Chemical Company. Mr. Haden, who is still living at an advanced age, retired can be found at the Hotel Euclid in this city on the corner of East Fourth Street and Walnut Street any time. To him is due much of the accurate data contained in this article. Mr. Haden says that Joseph Dennis came to East Liverpool also in 1874, a few months in advance of Mr. Haden but had not established himself when the Haden shop was opened. Thomas Haden operated in this Broadway shop until the latter part of 1877, when he built a shop of his own on Rural Lane a short distance west of Jackson
Edward O'Connor was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, 1847, and came to the United States in 1879. Mr. O'Connor was the son of John Doherty but was adopted by his uncle Edward O'Connor and was known by that name during his entire life. Mr. O'Connor was thoroughly skilled in the use and nature of fire clays while yet in his native land and 1ater in England. His first efforts in East Liverpool was at the stoneware plant of Ferguson and Simms where the Dresden Pottery now stands. Later he tried to make terra cotta from the clays at the old brick plant of Jacob Fowler where the "Buckeye Pottery" of the Knowles company now stands, but throat trouble which almost deprived him of his voice made it imperative that he get into the open air. With this end in view, Mr. O'Connor began to prospect for clays and later had mines opened at a number of points from which he disposed of his clays for fire resisting purposes for nearly twenty years. One of
Selborne Pottery is in a beautiful courtyard next to the church, off the High Street. Each piece of domestic stoneware is thrown and decorated by hand, then glazed with rich copper red and cobalt blue which after firing, produces a beautiful, deep glossy finish, some shimmering with the addition of real gold lustre. 2ff7e9595c
Comments