Re-examination after excavation: the problems of attributing wares to three New Jersey stoneware potteries
Date
1997
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
This study examines the methods and problems of attributing utilitarian, salt-glazed stoneware vessels to the Morgan, Morgan-VanWickle, and Wame & Letts potteries. The three potteries were located in Middlesex County, New Jersey and operated around the turn of the nineteenth century. The opening section addresses the history and material possessions of the Morgan family who owned the three potteries and the best source of stoneware clay in North America. Also included are sections on the Morgan clay bank and the history of the potteries. ☐ Previous attributions to the potteries have been made on the basis of poorly recorded amateur archeological excavations conducted in the 1930s to 1940s. New archeological evidence from each of the potteries came to light in 1995. Through a synthesis of documentary, archeological, and extant object research the author assesses and adjusts past attributions. Of particular interest are the potteries' decorative motifs and methods of applying decoration. ☐ Based on the recently excavated shards, it is evident that all three of the potteries made extensive use of cobalt oxide. The Wame & Letts and Morgan-VanWickle potteries made occasional use of iron oxide and copper oxide. The preferred method of decoration varied from pottery to pottery. The Morgan pottery made the most extensive use of linear, slip-trailed designs, incised pots rarely, and used coggle wheels very rarely, if ever. The Wame & Letts pottery brushed on oxides; rarely incised decoration; and made extensive use of stamps and coggle wheels. The Morgan-VanWickle pottery engaged in the least freehand application of oxides; produced the most incised decorations; and made extensive use of stamps and coggle wheels. ☐ Using data provided from the shards and extant marked pots, the author examines the attributions of extant, unmarked pots located in five public collections. Of the ten pots attributed to the Wame & Letts pottery, six are strongly associated with the pottery while the association of four others cannot be confirmed at this time. Of the twenty-eight pots attributed to or related to the Morgan-VanWickle pottery, six are strongly attributable, seventeen are moderately attributable, and five have very litde association to the pottery. Of the twenty-three pots attributed or related to the Morgan pottery, five are strongly associated, twelve can be moderately associated, and six others cannot be associated with the pottery. ☐ Overall, the attribution of stoneware pottery on the basis of surface decoration is challenging. It is especially difficult to make attributions to potteries working in the same stylistic tradition and in close proximity of space and time. Surface decoration should be used as one of many tools with which to attribute pots to manufactories. Other important considerations are form, construction, materials, workmanship, marked dates, and provenances. ☐ At times the most accurate attributions are broad. When the state of knowledge at a particular time does not allow for a specific label, a broad attribution is more responsible. Attributions should be made by degrees based on the amount and quality of information from which the attribution is made. Above all, solid attributions take time to research and verify. Stoneware pots should be attributed to a region or pottery only with concrete physical or documentary evidence after an adequate amount of research has been undertaken.