North Devon Pottery and Its Export to America in the 17th CenturyWatkins, C. Malcolm
History
North Devon Pottery and Its Export to America in the 17th Century
Watkins, C. Malcolm
Pottery -- Atlantic States; Pottery -- England -- Devon
The North Devon potteries manufactured for export, sending their wares to
Ireland as early as 1600 and to America by 1635. The trade was
particularly heavy in the years following the Stuart Restoration and was
tied to the influential 17th-century West-of-England commerce with
America. New England, Maryland, and Virginia received many shipments of
North Devon pottery, an entire cargo of it having been delivered in Boston
in 1688.
Sgraffito ware found in colonial sites in Virginia and Maryland is from a
common source. The style of decoration is unique to English pottery and
reflects Continental elements of design. It is reminiscent of decoration
found on English and colonial New England furniture and embroideries. The
only counterparts of this ware--matching it in style, paste color, and
technique--are found among 17th-century sherds excavated from the sites of
two potteries in Barnstaple. The 18th-century and 19th-century North Devon
sgraffito ware surviving above ground differs considerably in style and
form but in other respects it is the same as the ware found
archeologically in Virginia and Maryland. The stylistic differences,
noticeable on a piece in the Glaisher collection dated as early as 1704
(in which traces of the earlier style remain), were introduced by the turn
of the century, thus strengthening the conclusion that the sgraffito
tablewares found archeologically in this country must date from before
1700.
[Illustration: FIGURE 32.--Photomicrographs of gravel-tempered sherds
enlarged twice natural size, showing cross-sectional fractures. Top left,
pan sherd from Jamestown (Colonial National Historical Park); top right,
pan sherd from Angelica Knoll site, Calvert County, Maryland (United
States National Museum); and oven sherd from Bideford (United States
National Museum).]
[Illustration: FIGURE 33.--Photomicrographs of gravel-tempered sherds
enlarged three times natural size, showing cross-sectional fractures. Top,
pan sherd from "R. M." site, Plymouth, Massachusetts (Plimoth Plantation,
Inc.); lower left, oven sherd from Jamestown (Colonial National Historical
Park); and oven sherd from John Howland house site, Rocky Nook, Plymouth,
Massachusetts (Plimoth Plantation, Inc.).]
[Illustration: FIGURE 34.--Rim profiles of North Devon gravel-tempered
earthenware pans. All are from the fill around and beneath the
May-Hartwell site drain at Jamestown (constructed between 1689 and 1695)
except those marked, as follows: _A_, from Angelica Knoll site, Calvert
County, Maryland, late 17th century to about 1765; _B_, from John
Washington House site, Westmoreland County, Virginia, the period from
about 1664 to about 1680; _C_, from "R. M." site, Plymouth, Massachusetts,
about 1670; _D_, from site of George Washington's birthplace, near the
John Washington house site; _E_, from Winslow site, Marshfield,
Massachusetts, which was occupied from about 1635 to about 1699.]
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