EARLY PENNSYLVANIA POTTERY R. D. BILLINGER Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsvlvania
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HE earliest pottery made in Pennsylvania was produced before the white man appeared. Indian ware which is occasionally found in caves, excavations, and graves shows that the red men, like most primitive people, made utensils of clay. And they did a fairly creditable job when we consider their lack of simple mechanical aids. As to whether or not the Indians influenced the making of earthenware by the colonists there is grave doubt. The simplicity of certain Pennsylvania slipware decoration might show a slight resemblance to Indian signs. Their greatest aid was felt in helping Penn's followers to locate suitable clay as a raw material. This paper, however, deals only with the potters of the colonial period who settled in the southeastern section of this state. They were chiefly of German origin. They made earthenware objects needed by the colonists--dishes, bowls, jugs, tiles, pipes, etc. Later they produced artistic plates, toys, and images. These early potters worked in small establishments during the era 1750-1850. About fifty such tradesmen have left some record of their work. Their total number probably never exceeded two hundred. After 1850 the numbers engaged in the trade dwindled, but the influence of the early workers has not been lost entirely. Almost a century before pottery was produced in Pennsylvania there were beginnings elsewhere in the colonies. Spargo (I) credits Salem, Massachusetts, with a potter, John Pride, in 1641. We know that there were glassworkers and probably also potters in Virginia prior to this date. The earliest dated piece of slipware pottery produced in Pennsyldnia shows the year 1733 (2).
tions, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The art was fostered, if not improved, here in America. Meanwhile in Germany it was slowly replaced after the discovery of porcelain-similar to the Chineseby John Frederic Bottger in 1710. Some early attempts in this direction were also made in Philadelphia, as will be recorded later in this article. CLAYS AND MATERIALS
Pennsylvania is well supplied with clays and shales for the production of many ceramic products. Surface clays, available in all sections of the state, were used in the early days (3). Certain well-known sources were known to the pot-
GERMAN POTTERS
German emigrants from the Rhineland came to Pennsylvania in large numbers from 1683 to 1775. They came first to the region about Philadelphia, then pushed farther out into the beautiful hills of some ten counties which lie within a hundred-mile radius. They were a mixture of rich and poor, but generally a sturdy, religions folk-Mennonites, Moravians, Schwenckfelders-who sought freedom and fortune in Penn's Woods. Among the tradesmen were potters who practiced the old art of making earthenware--chiefly redware. Much of this was undecorated and made for utilitarian purposes. The most prized pieces, however, which are still preserved, are those designated as slipware and sgraffito ware. Slip-decorated earthenware was made extensively in Germany and England, with slight varia-
FIGURE 1.-TILE STOVE I N MORAVIAN MUSEUM. NAZAnere. PA. MADE IN BETHLEHEM,PA., BY LUDWIG HUEBNER
tws. Lewis Evans ( 4 ) , a contemporary writer andmap maker, cites one region known in 1753. "The greatest vein of clay for bricks and pottery begins near Trenton Falls, and extends a mile or two in breadth on the Pennsylvania side of the River t o Christine, then it crosses the River and goes by Salem. The whole world cannot afford better bricks than our Town is built of."
FIGURE2.-HALL OF THE MULLERHOUSEIN PENNSYL. V A N ~ A MUSEUMOF ART. PHILADELPHIA, PA.
Another location frequently mentioned as a clay source was Falckner's Swamp. This was a tract of meadow land on the Manatawny Creek in New Hanover Township, Montgomery County. It was part of a tract of 2975 acres which the brothers Daniel and Justus Falckner had obtained from William Penn. Daniel Falckner's written accounts of the new country had stimulated German immigration in the early eighteenth century. Lead ores used in glazing were obtained from several places. Galena was mined a t New Britain in Bucks County and near Phoenixville in Chester County.
Alleman (8) has analyzed some of the clay roofing tiles made in Bethlehem.
Total silica Alumina Ferric oxide Lime Magnesia
69.49 22.39 3.99 0.119 3.09
69.51 22.37 3.40 0.120 3.01
A few published analyses of clays of Northampton County agree reasonably well with these. Earthenware utensils which constituted the bulk of the products of the old German potters were studied and collected by Barber. These included cooking pots, apple butter pots, flower pots, jugs and jars for sundry uses, coffee and sugar bowls, pitchers, mugs, vegetable and meat dishes, pie plates (poi schissel), shaving basins, vases and toys. In addition there were many specialties which today are made of glass, porcelain, or plastics. A large majority of this material was made in Bucks and Montgomery counties. Splendid examples of these early products are displayed in the Pennsylvania Museum of Art in Philadelphia (Figure 2), in Doylestown, and in Harrisburg. In Figure 2 is reproduced a hall from one of the better homes in Lebanon County. Here one sees the display cupboards with local pottery and also the gay Staffordshire ware called "gaudy Dutch" which was shipped from England (1790-1840) to supply the desire for colorful show plates. METHODS EMPLOYED
The term earthenware applles to all ceramic products which are opaque to light. The redware of the German
PRODUCTS MADE
Among the earliest products made were materials used in building construction-bricks and tiles. The latter were used in roofing arid in the early tile stoves. Roof tiles were commonly used in the transition period between thatched roofs or wooden shingles and the slate era which began in 1805 (5). "Brickeries" were mentioned by William Penn in Philadelphia in 1685. A map of Bethlehem ( 6 ) drawn in 1761 shows the location of a "Brick Kill" north of the settlement along the Monocacy Creek. Tile stoves were used even earlier. In October, 1743, Ludwig Huebner, the potter "in the Swamp," had come to set up the fvst tile stove in the chapel (7). Later Huebner located in Bethlehem and became the village potter for over thirty years. Stoves, like Figure 1which is still preserved in the Moravian Museum of Nazareth, Pa., were supplied to the Continental Army during the Revolution. Huebner and several other local poMers also made jars, bowls, and clay pipes.
FIGURELIPWAR WARE (RIGHT) AND SGRAFPITO DISHES ( L E ~M ) PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM.PHILADELPHIA. PA.
storeroom to prevent freezing, but not so hot as to cake the clay. SHAPING
Next came the shaping on the potter's wheel. A simple wheel is shown in Figure 5. A flat disc of hard wood was made to rotate on an upright shaft mounted in the center of the potter's bench. The iron shaft was set in an iron cup and propelled by "kicking" a wheel attached near its base. Later improvements employed a bent shaft with a crank instead of a lower wheel. Then the potter began to work with hands and feet. A ball of moist clay, previously cut and rolled to size, was slapped on the revolving head. With moistened hands he inserted his thumbs downward into the clay and then slowly drew outward and upward until the jar attained its proper height. Meanwhile his trained fingers were working dexterously to maintain the proper and uniform wall thickness. The outside surface was smoothed with a straight stick called a "rib" or "smoother." The "rib" was held by a thumb hole in its center, and the smoothing done while the wheel was still revolving. Any rough spots which developed were touched up with a small finishing brush. To remove the jar from the wheel, which had been stopped by the foot, a thin wire attached to two wooden handles was drawn across the wheel a t the base of the jar. A clean motion and the jar was free. It was now lifted t o a board for transfer to the drying rack. Careful drying was important and the potter examined his "green" pots from day to day until firm enough to glaze or decorate. FIGURE 4.-CLAY MIXERAND POTTERY PRODUCTS. BUCKS COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM.DOYLESTOWN, PA. potters was not dainty. In fact there is a certain crudity about much of it which recdlithe primitive. But there was strength and simplicity. The products bespeak the simple methods employed. The steps followed were only the minimum necessary. A modern ceramic engineer would classify them as: (1) procuring raw materials, (2) grinding and preparation of clay, (3) shaping, (4) drying, (5) glazing, (6) firing. For the simplest wares glaze was sometimes omitted. The more elaborate dishes and jars received special decoration, e. g., slip and sgraffito ware. The potter was careful in his selection of clay. When a bed was located he removed the top soil and hauled his material to h k crude clay mill. This was a large wooden tub (Figure 4) about five feet in diameter and four feet high. In the center was a movable post with knives attached to break up the clay. A beam attached to the post top could be turned by hand, or more often by horse if the batch was large. Water was applied to the mass and the churning continued until the mass was soft enough to the potter's touch. This putty-like material was then stored in the cellar or in a room adjoining the pottery. A low fire was kept in the
GLAZING
By experience the potter knew the feel of his green ware and after several days he was ready to apply the glaze. This was usually made from red lead or from galena. I n either event a thin water paste was made and run through a quern or glazing mill. Such a de-
vice is shown in Figure 6. It consisted of two stone trickling through a quill attached to a small cup. discs with smooth grinding surfaces. In the upper This method was the same as that of the ancient stone a hole admitted the glaze mixture which was pul- Romans. The term sgra$to (from the Italian sgrafverized by a rotary motion of the upper stone. The fiare, to scratch) means "scratched" and literally demill was turned by a pole which served as a crank. scribes the method of ornamentation. I t is a form of The glaze ran out a t the projecting rim of the lower slip-engraving in which the ware is first covered with stone. slip clay and later scratched with a pointed stick or wire. While all types of pottery might be decorated the operation was usually applied to dishes, especially the well-known pie dishes and vegetable plates. The highly ornamented plates were never intended for daily use, but were gift plates for display. In either case a disc of clay was first cut and rolled to size. A pie plate intended for oven baking was quickly daubed with slip tricklings from the cup, which might have one, two, or three quills to exude the white clay. When this simple decoration was dried beyond the point where it might run or smear, it was pressed and beaten into the soft clay with a wooden "batter." This prevented the slip from breaking off during subsequent use. Then the pie plate was molded to its final shape by pressing it over a heavy, baked clay mold. This was done by hand, with the convex side or bottom of the dish upward. After pressing to shape it was sponged, and then smoothed with a knife. After removing from the mold the plate was next edged with a "coggle" wheel. Subsequent drying and glazing by brush made it ready for the kiln. If the plate was a special piece, mainly for display, the molding was first done and the slip applied later. For the sgraffito decoration the molded plate was entirely covered with white clay and designs were cut with a sha* tool. This brought out the bright red of the under clay surface. Touches of color were imparted to the designs by daubing with metallic oxides. The usual colors were yellow, green, and black.
This mixture was applied to the inside of vessels by whirling them after pouring in a little of the liquid glaze. Outside glazes were applied when desired by dipping in the glaze paste. After firing this provided a clear, yellowish glazes lead silicate glass. Manganese was added to create a darker glaze, or if in excess a black enamel resulted. Verdigris furnished green tints. ORNAMENTED WARE
There are two principal types of ornamented ware: The first refers to the application of a liquid clay or slip by (1) slip-decorated pottery, (2) sgraffito ware.
The old potters fired only three or four times a year. This operation came after a hatch of several hundred pieces was ready for the kiln. Wood firing was the common practice and huge piles of timber were cut by the helpers in preparation for this event. The round kiln was usually made of stone walls with an arched brick roof. An average size kiln was about nine feet in diameter and seven feet in height. The earthenware jars, howls, etc., were nested around the walls of the kiln, but never touching each other. Row upon row was filled up, with plates and smaller objects a t the top. When the kiln was filled the openings were sealed with hrick and clay to prevent drafts. Then the fires were started-usually oak and hard woods being employed. Help was needed to keep the fires, because this was a long, slow process requiring from tweutyfour to thirty-six hours. Two fires were started on opposite sides of the kiln. They were connected by a tunnel which led to a central chamber running through the kiln. The fires were slowly increased to heat the
kiln gradually. From sunrise to noon only a light fire was employed, then the intensity was increased until by night i t was a t its peak. All night long more wood was added by groups of friends who came to lend a hand. As the k i n became white-hot no smoke emerged from the crown, hut only jets of livid flame which told the countryside of the progress of the firing. By morning of the second day the fires were a mass of red charcoal which would keep the kiln hot for many hours. Toward the end of the second day the potter would remove test pieces of clay which had been placed in strategic vents before the firing. The strips were about twenty inches long and protruded through the crown to the location of various pieces of ware. The lower ends of the strips dipped in lead glaze, and upon removing the strip by an attached wire the potter could see whether his work was done. When complete he inspected his kiln, chinked up any resulting cracks and then allowed the kiln to cool gradually for about a week. The opening of the kiln was an event to draw folks from miles around. Prospective purchasers, all curious of the outcome, would crowd the scene. The potter prayed, silently a t least, for success. Face, no less than fortune, was a t stake. Loud was the praise if his firing was good. Then all were happy to buy the new redware-manmade utensils from handfuls of clay. Much of the foregoing description of the methods of the potter has been obtained from the writings of Edwin Atlee Barber, former Director of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. His chief contribution to the ceramic art was his demonstration of the importance of Pennsylvania German pottery. By his collections of outstanding examples of this work and his writings on the subject he became the press agent for what is almost a lost art. POTTERY DECORATIONS
Certain types of decoration 'characterize the Pennsylvania "Dutch" ware. Slipware shows the waved lines, the turkey feet, and often the same simplicity typical of Indian pottery. Weygaudt (9) mentions the Indian motives on pie plates and thinks that they "may be the very work of Indian help, which was often employed when i t was available, as by the Moravians in the Forks of the Delaware." Flowers were most frequently used as the theme for decoration. The tulip and fuchsia were predominant, although often no particular flower was patterned. Sgraffito ware repeats the portrayal of the tulip. This influence came from Germany where it was an artistic emblem ever since its introduction from Persia in the sixteenth century. Birds and barnyard fowl were subjects of design. The peacock and the eagle were favorites. In early years the possession of a peacock was a symbol of affluence and the strutting bird was copied on pottery, tinware, samplers, and wooden chests. The pelican appears piercing her breast-another symbol of medieval times reproduced by men who preserved and copied
old-world art. More original and often more crudely fashioned were contemporary subjects-soldiers, patriotic figures, horsemen, etc. Most humorous and homely philosophical were the inscriptions which often were printed around the margins of the show plates. Barber (10)gives some of these to illustrate their character: "Wer etwas will versehwiegen haben Der derf es seiner Frau nicht sagen." (He who would have something secret Dare not tell it to his wife.) "Lieber will ich ledig leben ALs der Frau die Hosen geben." (Rather would I single live Than the wife the breeches give.)
Sometimes Biblical verses were used, again amorous statements and pledges of devotion-the latter if the dish were given as a gift to a sweetheart or loved one. Often the name of the donor, or the recipient, and the date would be inscribed. Sometimes the potter signed his name or initials. Inscribed plates are always in demand especially when they establish the date and maker of the piece.
INFLUENCE
The art and craft of the Pennsylvania German potter has declined. Numerous examples of his work remain in the homes of his kinsmen, in the museums of the state and elsewhere, and, of course, in the possession of many antique collectors. This work, often crude but always colorful, represents a distinct phase in our colonial period. It passed its zenith with the introduc-
FIGURE
8.-THOMASSTAHL, POTTER OF POWDER VALLEY, LEHIGHCOUNTY. PA.
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tion of pewter, tinware, and porcelain. The metal ware was stronger, the whiteware more adapted to daily use. These products in turn now give way to aluminum, glass, and plastics. Late in the nineteenth century, however, an enthusiastic archaeologist and antiquarian, Henry Chapman Mercer, became interested in the pottery and designs of the early Pennsylvania craftsman. He had collected tools and products of early industry in the United States and foreign lands. His zeal led him to invent processes for making mural decorative designs in 1899. He established a small plant a t Doylestown, Pennsylvania, known as the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works. Mercer was a man of considerable wealth and he could afford to experiment and produce on a scale greater than any of the early potters. He realized the limitations of earthenware as well as its beauty, but he thought it had a distinct use in the field of architecture. He drew many of his designs from the early Pennsylvania stove plates which were famous for
their pictures of Biblical stories, lepends, and quaint sayings. Mercer felt strongly about the old red pottery and wrote in 1911 as follows (11): "Red, with which nature has gloriously tinted most of the clays of the world, is a wonderful color.. Clay moves a t every slightest touch-in the sun, in the air, in the fire. . . Let it move. Clay lives, don't kill it by pouring it like white These potters painted clay with clay, molassesiutoamould. . they let the colors of nature alone and burnt them into the very life of the object. "Whoever wishes to study, practice, or develop pottery should overlook the modem factory and begin here. Shall i t die? Thirteen years ago I said not, when I began a work which I hope will continue after me, namely an attempt to restore and develop it in the making of tiles."
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Mercer's tiles have found use and acceptance in numerous buildings in floors, fireplaces, and mural decorations (Figure 7). The business was an economic success while he lived. It is still continued by successorsn amed by him. His home a t Font Hill, Doylestown, and his collections in the museum of the Bucks, County Historical Society are available to interested visitors. In recent years Pennsylvania Dutch pottery and antiques have been the subject of numerous popular articles and even books. Cornelius Weygandt (9) has described in pleasant David Grayson style his years of study and collecting. "The Red Hills" is largely devoted to early Pennsylvania pottery. In his "The Dutch Country" (12) he describes the passing of the last of the old potters, but states that there may be . . one or two still practicing. It has been the pFesent writer's good fortune to learn. of such a pottery in Powder Valley in Lehigh County. It is operated by the Stahl brothers, sons of an old potter who ran a pottery forty years ago in the same valley. A view of one of these old gentlemen is seen in Figure 8. Only since 1932 have they renewed a craft which they learned as boys a t the hands of their father. In answer to my praise and exhortation to stick to theirart, the elder (Thomas Stahl) shortly said-"Ach, but you don't mean it!" Who will be their successors in this old tradition? EARLY CHINA IN PHILADELPHIA
This paper has stressed the redware of early Pennsylvania, but there was also an important beginning in the manufacture of china in Philadelphia in 1769. This was the work of Gousse Bonniu who came from England where he worked a t the famous Bow pottery. Capital was furnished by George Anthony Morris and a factory located on Prime Street near the present navy~ yard. From advertisements and announcements it has. been thought that the pottery early made "bone china," and later "common white" or opaque ware. Only one or two pieces of authentic Bonnin ware are preserved and they are of white earthenware, not china. The pottery failed after five years of struggling. In spite of its brief existence, Spargo regards "this early Philadel-
phia pottery as the most interesting, and also the most important, of all the potteries known to have existed in this country before the Revolution."
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The author wishes to acknowledge the courtesy of assistance from the following: Mr. R. G. Alleman for material concerning the Moravian pottery in Bethlehem; Miss Harriet Root of the Bethlehem Public Library, for general information; Mr. H. R. Mann for photographs from the Bucks County Historical Museum in Doylestown; Mr. Joseph Downs for permission to use a copy of the Hall of Millhach from the Pennsylvania Museum of Art in Philadelphia; Mr. H. K. Deisher of the Pennsylvania Museum in Harrisburg; and the Reverend Shultz of the Moravian Museum in Nazareth, Pa. LITERATURE CITED
It is difficult to agree with the foregoing statement when there is so little evidence. On the other hand the German potters have left us much of their wares. Their plants were small family affairs, usually a side line to the main business of farming. Many of the potters left records through family and county histories. Names like Hiibener, Haring, Singer, Headman, Diehl, and Bergey are prominent. There are dozens of others less known and many forgotten. They practiced a n art which in its simplest form goes back beyond recorded history. In its highest development it comes to us in such beauteous forms as Rookwood pottery.
(1) SPARGO, "Early American pottery and c h i , " The Century Company, New York City, 1926, p. 86. 121 BARBER. ' ' T u l i ~ware of the Pennsvlvania German ootters." ~enn&lvania Museum and school of l n d u s t h l A& 1903:,p. 196. (3) S H A W ~The ceramic industries of Pennsylvania," Pennrylwnze Slate Colleye Bulletin. No. 7 , 36 (1930). (4) GZPSON. "Lewis Evansbrief account of Pennsylvania," The Hist. Soc. of Pa., 1939, p. 106. (5) MILLER. "Northampton County, Pennsylvania," Penna. Geol. Suruey, Bulletin, C48, 389 (1919). "A history of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania," Times (6) LEVERING, Publ. Co., Bethlehem, Pa., 1903, p. 352. (7) Ibid., p. 145. (8) ALLEMAN, "An investigation of Moravian pottery in Bethlehem. Pennsylvania," unpubl, thesis. Lehigh University,
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(9) WEYGANDT, "The red hills," University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia, 1929, p. 58. 1101 06. ' d . . 2...D. :121. (11) MERCER,"Pottery of the Pennsylvania Germans," The Bucks County Hist. Soc., 1917, Vol. 4, p. 187. (12) WEYGANDT, "The Dutch country," D. Appleton-Century Co.. New Yark City, 1939, pp. 1&30
