May 13 2008
Redware
In Wait for Their Return, my historical character needs appropriate dishes. Some of these dishes are made from redware, a kind of pottery that went into production in America in 1625. Redware was given its name because that was the color the clay turned after firing. The production of redware continued at high levels until the mid-19th century when the industrial revolution began to offer alternatives and many potters moved west or began to work in mills.
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In the photos below (taken at Old Sturbridge Village, MA), you can see a potter with wet hands turning what appears to be the beginning of a mug. The next step is to let the clay dry for several days before dipping it in a reddish brown glaze. When enough pottery is accumulated, it will be stacked inside the large kiln. The opening is bricked up and the pottery is fired by building a fire at the base of the kiln until a temperature of 1850 degrees F is reached. In the last photos, you see some of the finished products.
For more information about redware visit Old Sturbridge Village.
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5 responses so far
That kiln is amazing – beautiful!
Its huge! And in the fall, they usually have a big event/party when they fire it up. I’m hoping to go sometime.
They could stand side by side with some of the pottery we have here [UK] and it would be hard to tell them apart.
I love that they are still made the old fashioned way
Wow! It’s beautiful. I love all the things I learn from you!
Robin,
I bumped into your blog and I would like to expand your understanding of redware; My wife and I are redware potters.
There is a great diversity of redware types. If you have a minute, visit this skinner auction, ending tomorrow. http://www.skinnerinc.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=2412+++++108+&refno=++755886&saletype= and hit the “previous” button on top. There you will find a wonderful range of colors that glazed redware pottery; redware can be slipped decorated, glazed in multitude of colors and those colors can be affected by the firing conditions or the clay (see the orange haloed pots). The potters themselves ranged from the rather “limited in skills” to those who used lathes and molds to compete with the imported wares in the 18th and 19th centuries. Some shops were small, like the Hervey Brooks shops at OSV but others were very large, like in Gloucester that exported their redware down coast in the 18th century. Product satuation, potter migration and the birth of new clay products resulted in many shops closing after 7-10 years. Some redware shops were run by woman.
Rick Hamelin
http://www.americanredware.com