RHENISH STONEWARES.--The stoneware potters who worked in the vicinity of
Grenzhausen in the Westerwald in a tributary of the Rhine Valley held a
far-flung market until the mid-18th century. It was not until the
Staffordshire potters brought out their own salt-glazed whitewares that
the colorful blue-and-gray German products suffered a decline. Before
that, Rhenish stonewares were widely used in England and the colonies;
those for the British market frequently were decorated with medallions
in which the reigning English monarch's initial appeared. Elaborate
incising and blue-cobalt coloring gave a highly decorative character to
the ware, while salt thrown into the kiln during the firing combined
with the clay to provide a hard, clean surface matched only by
porcelain.
[Illustration: Figure 65.--BUCKLEY-TYPE HIGH-FIRED WARE with laminated
body. Four pieces at top have predominantly red body, streaked with
buff. All have black glaze, except two at lower right, which have amber
glaze.]
John Mercer, like so many of his fellow colonials, owned Westerwald
stoneware. From Ledger G, we know that in 1743 he bought "2 blew & W^t
Jugs 2/." From the artifacts it is clear that he not only had large
globose jugs, but also numerous cylindrical mugs and chamber pots. A
small group of sherds has a gray-buff paste, more intricately incised
than most. Internally the paste surface is a light-pinkish buff. These
sherds are probably of the late 17th century, or at least earlier than
the predominantly gray wares of the 18th century, which have hastily
executed designs.[180] Only two "GR" emblems (_Guglielmus_ or _Georgius
Rex_), both from mugs, were recovered (fig. 66d).
[Illustration: Illustration 22.--Base of gray-brown,
salt-glazed-stoneware ale mug. Rust-brown slip inside. Same size. (USNM
59.1780.)]
[Illustration: Illustration 23.--Stoneware jug fragment. Dull red with
black dots. Same size. (USNM 59.1840.)]
[Illustration: Illustration 24.--Gray, salt-glazed-stoneware jar
profile. Probably first quarter, 19th century. Same size. (USNM
59.1615.)]
MISCELLANEOUS GRAY-AND-BROWN SALT-GLAZED STONEWARE.--The shop of William
Rogers apparently made stoneware of fine quality in the style of the
London stoneware produced in the Thames-side potteries.[181] Wasters
from Yorktown streets and foundations indicate many varieties of colors
and glaze textures, some of which are matched in the Marlborough sherds.
Admittedly, it is not possible to distinguish with certainty the
fragments of Yorktown stoneware from their English counterparts. Sherds
of a pint mug, externally gray in the lower half and mottled-brown in
the upper, may be a Yorktown product (USNM 59.1780, ill. 22). The
interior is a rusty brown. Fragments of the shoulder of a very large
jug, mottled-brown externally and lined in a dull red like that often
found on Yorktown wasters, also have body resemblances. (Mercer bought a
five-gallon "stone bottle" from Charles Dick in 1745.)
[Illustration: Figure 66.--WESTERWALD STONEWARE: a, chamber-pot sherds
and handle fragments; b, sherds having yellowish body, probably late
17th or early 18th century; c, sherds of curve-sided flagon; d, sherds
of cylindrical mugs including one with "GR" seal.]
There are numerous other types of coarse stoneware of unknown origins,
including one sherd with a dull-red glaze and black decorative spots
(USNM 59.1840, ill. 23).
NOTTINGHAM-TYPE STONEWARE.--Several sherds of stoneware of the type
usually ascribed to Nottingham appeared at Marlborough. This ware is
characterized by a smooth, lustrous, metallic-brown glaze. The fragments
are apparently from different vessels. One is a foot rim of a posset pot
or jug. Several body sherds have fluting or paneling formed by molding,
with turning lines on the interior showing that the molding was executed
after the forms were shaped. One sherd is decorated with shredded clay
applied before firing when the clay was wet. It appears to come from the
globose portion of a small drinking jug with a vertical collar. A
handle section comes from a pitcher or posset pot. Interior colors range
from a brownish mustard to a reddish brown. Nottingham stoneware was
made throughout the 18th century,[182] but these sherds correspond to
middle-of-the-century forms (fig. 67a).
[Illustration: Figure 67.--FINE ENGLISH STONEWARE: a, Nottingham type;
b, "drab" stoneware covered with white slip--brown-bordered mug sherds
in _upper left_ came from beneath flagstone north of mansion-house
porch, about 1725, "scratch-blue" stoneware, _below_, is about 1750; c,
"degenerate scratch-blue" stoneware is about 1790; d, "white salt-glaze"
ware _at bottom_ is hand-thrown; _upper right_ is molded, about 1760; e,
plate and platter fragments.]
DRAB STONEWARE.--The dominant position attained by the Staffordshire
potters in the 18th century is due to unremitting efforts to achieve the
whiteness of porcelain in their native products. Improvements in
stoneware were mostly in this direction, with the first steps plainly
evidencing what they failed to achieve. One of the earlier attempts has
a gray body coated with white pipe-clay slip obtained at Bideford in
North Devon. This slip created the superficial appearance of porcelain,
as did tin enamel on the surface of delftware. Although some Burslem
potters were making "dipped white stoneware" by 1710,[183] it does not
seem to have occurred generally until about 1725. Salt glaze was applied
in the same manner as on the earlier and coarser stonewares. Mugs in
this ware were banded with an iron-oxide slip, presumably to cover up
defects around the rims.
[Illustration: Figure 68.--ENGLISH DELFTWARE: a, 17th- and early
18th-century sherds; b, blue-and-white sherd of the first half of the
18th century; c, polychrome fragments, third quarter of the 18th
century; d, ointment pots with pink body, 18th century.]
Several sherds of this drab stoneware were found at Marlborough,
including the base of a jug with curving sides and pieces of tall mugs
with brown rims (USNM 59.1893, fig. 67b, ill. 25). The body is
characteristically gray, while the slip, although sometimes dull white,
is usually a pleasant cream tone. Two sherds were found beneath the
flagstones around the north porch of Structure B, where they probably
fell before 1746 (USNM 59.1754).
One of the Burslem stoneware potters between 1710 and 1715 made what he
called "freckled ware."[184] Possibly this describes a sherd of a
thin-walled mug from Marlborough (USNM 59.1636) which is coated with
white slip inside and is finely speckled, or "freckled," in brown on the
outside. Its body is the gray of the drab stoneware, but with a high
content of micaceous and siliceous sand. Simeon Shaw, the early
19th-century historian of the Staffordshire potteries, asserted that
what he called "Crouch" ware was first made of brick clay and fine sand
in 1690, and by 1702 of dark-gray clay and sand.[185] Although his dates
are questioned by modern authorities, his order of the progressive
degrees of refinement in the paste are acceptable as he suggests them.
In respect to the Marlborough sherd, although it is coarser than the
white-coated fragments described above, it answers very well Shaw's
description of sandy-gray "Crouch" ware.
[Illustration: Illustration 25.--Drab-stoneware mug fragment, rim coated
with iron oxide. Staffordshire, 1720-30. Same size. (USNM 59.1893.)]
[Illustration: Illustration 26.--Wheel-turned cover of white,
salt-glazed teapot. Staffordshire. Same size. (USNM 59.1622.)]
[Illustration: Illustration 27.--Body sherds of molded, white
salt-glazed-ware pitcher or milk jug. Staffordshire. Same size. (USNM
59.1894.)]
WHITE SALT-GLAZED WARE.--About 1720 calcined flints were added to the
body of the Staffordshire stoneware, thus making possible a homogeneous
white body that did not require a coating of slip between the body and
the glazed surface.[186] With this ware the Staffordshire potters came
closer to their goal of emulating porcelain.
At Marlborough the earliest examples of this improved ware are found in
two sherds with incised decorations that were scratched into the wet
clay (USNM 59.1819, Fig. 67b); the incised lines next were filled with
powdered cobalt before firing. This technique is known as "scratch
blue," dated examples of which, existing elsewhere, range from 1724 to
1767. The body in the Marlborough specimens is still rather drab, the
whiteness of the later ware not yet having been achieved. No slip was
used, however, so that the surface color is a pleasant pale gray. One
sherd is from a cup with a slightly flaring rim. The exterior decoration
is in the form of floral sprigs, while the inside has a row of
double-scalloped lines below the rim. The other fragment is from a
saucer. Possibly the cup is part of Mercer's purchase in 1742 of a dozen
"Stone Coffee cups," for which he paid 18d. In Boston "White stone
Tea-Cups and Saucers" were advertised in 1745, and "blue and white ...
Stone Ware" in 1751.[187]
A later variant on the "scratch blue" is a class of salt-glazed ware
that resembles Westerwald stoneware. Here loops, sworls, and horizontal
grooves are scratched into the paste. The cobalt is smeared more or less
at random, some of it lying on the surface, some running into the
incised channels. This style of decoration was applied mostly to chamber
pots but also to small bowls and cups. Fragments of all these forms
occurred at Marlborough (fig. 67c).
After 1740 the body was greatly improved, resulting in an attractive
whiteware. Many wheel-turned forms were produced, and these were
liberally represented at Marlborough in fragments of pitchers, mugs,
teapots, teacups, bowls, posset pots, and casters (fig. 67d).
[Illustration: Figure 69.--DELFT PLATE. Lambeth, about 1720. (See ill.
29.)]
In the middle of the 18th century a process was developed for making
multiple plaster-of-paris molds from brass or alabaster matrices[188]
and then casting plates and other vessels in them by pouring in the
stoneware clay, diluted in the form of slip. The slip was allowed to
dry, and the formed utensil was removed for firing. This molded
salt-glazed ware occurs in quantity in the Marlborough finds, suggesting
that there were large sets of it. One design predominates in plates,
platters, and soup dishes: wavy edges, borders consisting of panels of
diagonal lattices--with stars or dots within the lattices framed in
rococo scrolls, and areas of basket-weave designs between the panels. On
a large platter rim the lattice-work is plain, somewhat reminiscent of
so-called Chinese Chippendale design. The pattern is presumably the
design referred to in the _Boston News Letter_ for May 29, 1764: "To be
sold very cheap. Two or three Crates of white Stone Ware, consisting
chiefly of the new fashioned basket Plates and Oblong Dishes."[189] One
fragment comes from a cake plate with this border design and a heavily
decorated center (fig. 67e).
[Illustration: Figure 70.--DELFT PLATE. Probably Lambeth, about 1730 to
1740. (See ill. 30.)]
Other molded patterns include gadrooning combined with scalloping on a
plate-rim sherd. A rim section with molded rococo-scrolled edge is from
a "basket weave" sauceboat. Considerably earlier are pieces of a pitcher
or milk jug with a shell design (USNM 59.1894, ill. 27). One rare sherd
appears to come from a rectangular teapot or tray. All the white
salt-glazed ware from Marlborough represents the serviceable but
decorative tableware of everyday use. It must have been purchased during
the last 10 years of Mercer's life.
TIN-ENAMELED EARTHENWARE.--The art of glazing earthenware with opaque
tin oxide and decorating it with colorful designs was an Islamic
innovation which spread throughout the Mediterranean and northward to
Holland and England. Practiced in England before the close of the 16th
century, it became in the 17th and the first half of the 18th centuries
a significant source of English tableware, both at home and in America.
Because of its close similarity to the Dutch majolica of Delft, the
English version was popularly called "delftware," even though made in
London, Bristol, or Liverpool.
[Illustration: Illustration 28.--English-delftware washbowl sherd.
Blue-dash decoration inside. See figure 68b. Same size. (USNM 60.75.)]
Surprisingly, a minimum of tin-enameled wares was found at Marlborough,
with several sherds reflecting the Port Town period. One of the latter
shows the lower portion of a heavy, dark-blue floral spray, growing up,
apparently, from a flowerpot. A section of foot rim and the contour of
the sherd show that this was a 17th-century charger, probably dating
from about 1680 (USNM 60.177, fig. 68a). The leaves are painted in the
same manner as on a Lambeth fuddling cup.[190] A section of a plate with
no foot rim includes an inner border which encircles the central panel
design. It consists of two parallel lines with flattened spirals joined
in a series between the lines. The glaze is crackled. This probably
dates from the same period as the preceding sherd (USNM 60.99, fig.
68a). Sherds from a larger specimen, without decoration, have the same
crackled enamel (USNM 59.2059). There is also a fragment decorated with
small, blue, fernlike fronds, again suggesting late 17th-century origin
(USNM 59.1756, fig. 68a). A small handle, the glaze of which has a
pinkish cast, is decorated with blue dashes, and probably was part of a
late 17th-century cup (USNM 59.1730, fig. 68a).
[Illustration: Illustration 29.--English delftware plate. One-half. See
figure 69. (USNM 59.1707.)]
[Illustration: Illustration 30.--English delftware plate. One-half. See
figure 70. (USNM 59.1706.)]
Several fragments of narrow rims from plates with blue bands probably
date from the first quarter of the 18th century. A reconstructed plate
with the simplest of stylized decoration was made at Lambeth about 1720
(USNM 59.1707, fig. 69). This plate has a wavy vine motif around its
upward-flaring rim, in which blossoms are suggested by stylized pyramids
of three to four blocks formed by brush strokes about 1/4-inch wide,
alternating with single blocks. The central motif consists of two
crossed stems with a pyramid at each end and two diagonal, block brush
strokes intersecting the crossed stems. A large fragment of a washstand
bowl also has similar plain, block brush strokes along a border defined
by horizontal lines--in this case a triplet of three strokes, one above
two, alternating with a single block. Edges of similar brush strokes on
the lower portion of the bowl remain on the fragment. Garner shows a
Lambeth mug embodying this style of decoration combined with a
suggestion of Chinoiserie around the waist. He ascribes to it a date of
"about 1700," although the block-brush-stroke device, with variations,
was practiced until the 1760's at Lambeth.[191] The Marlborough bowl
fragment may be from one of the "2 pottle Basons" bought by Mercer in
1744 (fig. 68b, ill. 28).
[Illustration: Illustration 31.--Delftware ointment pot. Bluish-white
tin-enamel glaze. One-half. (USNM 59.1842.)]
[Illustration: Illustration 32.--Sherds of black basaltes ware. Same
size. (USNM 59.2021.)]
Another reconstructed plate, probably a Lambeth piece, has blue
decoration in the Chinese manner. It dates from about 1730 to 1740 (USNM
59.1706, fig. 70). Several small bowl sherds seem to range from the
early to the middle 18th century. Polychrome delft is represented by
only three sherds, all apparently from bowls, and none well enough
defined to permit identification.
There are several fragments of ointment pots, all 18th-century in shape.
Three sherds of tin-enameled redware are probably continental European.
Two of these have counterparts from early 17th-century contexts at
Jamestown. A blue-decorated handle sherd from a large jug or posset pot
is also 17th century.
The predominance of early dating of tin-enamel sherds and the relatively
few examples of it from any period suggest that much of what was found
either was used in the Port Town or was inherited by the Mercers,
probably by Catherine, and used when they were first married. It also
points up the fact that delftware early went out of fashion among
well-to-do families.
ENGLISH FINE EARTHENWARES.--The fine earthen tablewares introduced in
Staffordshire early in the 18th century, largely in response to the new
tea-drinking customs, are less well represented in the Marlborough
artifacts than are those made later in the century. Apparently, the
contemporary white salt-glazed ware was preferred.
[Illustration: Figure 71.--WHIELDON-TYPE tortoiseshell ware, about
1760.]
MARBLED WARE.--The Staffordshire factories of Thomas Astbury and Thomas
Whieldon were responsible for numerous innovations, including fine
"marbled" wares in which clays of different colors were mixed together
so as to form a veined surface. The technique itself was an old one, but
its application in delicate tablewares was a novelty. Although Astbury
was the earlier, it was Whieldon who exploited the technique after
starting his potworks at Little Fenton about 1740.[192] From Marlborough
come three meager sherds of marbled ware, probably from three
different vessels (USNM 59.1625, 59.1748, 59.1851). They are brownish
red with white veining under an amber lead glaze. A posset pot of these
colors in the Victoria and Albert Museum is supposed, by Rackham, to
date from about 1740.[193]
[Illustration: Figure 72.--QUEENSWARE, about 1800.]
BLACK-GLAZED FINE REDWARE.--Whieldon made a black-glazed, fine redware,
as did Maurice Thursfield at Jackfield in Shropshire.[194] A fragment of
a black-glazed teapot handle was found at Marlborough, although the
body is more nearly a hard grayish brown than red (USNM 59.1638).
TORTOISESHELL WARE.--Cream-colored earthenware was introduced as early
as 1725, supposedly by Thomas Astbury, Jr. It was not until the middle
of the century, however, that Whieldon began the use of clouded glaze
colors over a cream-colored body. After 1756 Josiah Wedgwood became his
partner and helped to perfect the coloring of glazes. In 1759 Wedgwood
established his own factory, and both firms made tortoiseshell ware in
the same molds used for making salt-glazed whiteware.[195] From
Marlborough there are several sherds of gadroon-edge plates and
basket-weave-and-lattice plates, as well as a piece of a teapot cover.
Tortoiseshell ware was advertised in Boston newspapers from 1754 to 1772
(fig. 71).[196]
QUEENSWARE.--Josiah Wedgwood brought to perfection the creamware body
about 1765, naming it "Queensware" after receiving Queen Charlotte's
patronage. Wedgwood took out no patents, so that a great many factories
followed suit, notably Humble, Green & Company at Leeds in Yorkshire
(later Hartley, Green & Company).[197]
[Illustration: Figure 73.--FRAGMENT OF QUEENSWARE PLATTER with portion
of Wedgwood mark.]
[Illustration: Figure 74.--ENGLISH WHITE EARTHENWARES: a, "pearlware"
with blue-and-white chinoiserie decoration, late 18th century; b, two
whiteware sherds, one "sponged" in blue and touched with yellow, the
other "sponged" in gray; c, shell-edge and polychrome wares, early 19th
century; and d, polychrome Chinese porcelain.]
[Illustration: Figure 75.--POLYCHROME Chinese porcelain.]
The Marlborough creamware sherds are all plain (with one exception),
consisting of fragments of wavy-edge plates, bowls, and platters in
Wedgwood's "Catherine shape," introduced about 1770, as well as mugs and
pitchers (fig. 72). A piece of a large platter has impressed in it the
letters WEDG, running up to the fracture. Below this is the number 1
(USNM 59.1997, fig. 73).
WHITEWARES USED IN THE FEDERAL PERIOD.--During the late 1770's Wedgwood
introduced his "pearlware,"[198] in which the yellow cast of the cream
body was offset by a touch of blue. With the use of a nearly colorless
glaze that was still slightly bluish, it was now possible to make a
successful underglaze-blue decoration. These whitewares were made in
three principal styles by Wedgwood's many imitators, as well as by
Wedgwood himself. The most familiar of these styles is the molded
shell-edge ware, which was used in virtually every place to which
Staffordshire wares penetrated after 1800. In a plain creamware version,
this was another Wedgwood innovation of about 1765.[199] After 1780, the
ware was white, with blue or green borders. The Wedgwood shell-edge
design has a slightly wavy edge, and the shell ridges vary in depth and
length. At least one Leeds version has a regular scalloped edge, like
those found on several other Marlborough sherds. In the 19th century the
ware became coarser and heavier, as well as whiter, and in some cases
the shell edge was no longer actually molded but simply suggested by a
painted border. Some variants were introduced that were not intended to
be shell edge in design, but merely blue or green molded patterns. A
Marlborough sherd from one of these has a gadrooned edge and molded
swags and palmettes. Except for two late rims, painted but not molded,
the shell-edge wares from Marlborough probably date from John Francis
Mercer's period in the late 1700's and from John Bronaugh's occupancy of
the mansion during the Cooke period in the first decade of the 19th
century (fig. 74c).
[Illustration: Figure 76.--BLUE-AND-WHITE Chinese porcelain.]
The success of the new whiteware in permitting the use of underglaze
blue resulted in a second class that is decorated in the Chinese
manner, after the style of English delft and porcelain. This type was
popular between 1780 and 1790, especially in the United States, where
many whole specimens have survived above ground. Several sherds are
among the Marlborough artifacts and appear to have come entirely from
hollow forms, such as bowls and pitchers.[200] Sherds from a
blue-and-white mug with molded designs, including the shell motif around
the handle, have been found also.
[Illustration: Figure 77.--BLUE-AND-WHITE Chinese porcelain.]
The third class of whiteware, which was heavily favored in the export
trade, consisted of a gay, hand-decorated product, popular at the end of
the 18th, and well into the 19th, century. It had pleasing variety, with
floral designs in soft orange, green, brown, and blue, often with brown
or green borders. A few examples of this later whiteware occur among the
Marlborough artifacts (fig. 74b). One sherd from a small bowl is mottled
in blue and touched with yellow (USNM 59.1805, fig. 74b). Another is
also mottled, but in gray and blue. Such wares as the latter were made
by Hartley, Green & Company at Leeds before the factory's demise in 1820
(USNM 59.1950, fig. 74b).[201]
The transfer-printed wares that were so popular in America after 1820
are represented by a mere eight sherds, which is in accord with evidence
that the mansion house was unoccupied or destroyed after 1819. Of these
sherds, only five can be dated before 1830. Two are pink,
transfer-printed sherds of about 1835-45, and one is gray-blue, dating
from about 1840-1850.
BLACK BASALTES WARE.--Another late 18th-century innovation by Wedgwood,
imitated by his competitors, was a fine stoneware with a black body,
called black basaltes because of its resemblance to that mineral. A few
sherds of this were found at Marlborough. Typically, they are glazed on
the insides only. They postdate John Mercer by twenty or thirty years.
[Illustration: Illustration 33.--Blue-and-white Chinese-porcelain saucer
(fig. 76, top left). One-half.]
[Illustration: Illustration 34.--Blue-and-white Chinese-porcelain plate
(fig. 77, top left). One-fourth. (USNM 60.122.)]
CHINESE PORCELAIN.--Oriental porcelain was introduced to the English
colonies at a very early date, as we know from 17th-century contexts at
Jamestown. As early as 1725 John Mercer acquired "1 China Punch bowl."
Presumably the "6 tea cups & Sawcers," "2 chocolate cups," and "2
custard cups" obtained by him the same year were also porcelain. Even
before 1740, porcelain was occurring with increasing frequency in
America. We are told that in 1734, for example, it can be calculated
that about one million pieces of it left Canton for Europe.[202]
Doubtless a large proportion was reexported to the colonists. William
Walker, Mercer's undertaker for the mansion, left at his death in 1750:
"1 Crack'd China bowl," "1 Quart Bowl 6/, 1 large D^o 12.6," "6 China
cups & Sawcers 5/," and "12 China plates 15/."
It is not surprising, therefore, that 18th-century China-trade porcelain
sherds occurred with high incidence at Marlborough. Mercer's accounts
show that he acquired from Charles Dick in 1745 "1 Sett finest China"
and "2 punch bowls." From the archeological evidence it would appear
that he had supplemented this several times over, perhaps after 1750 in
the period for which we have no ledgers.
Most of the porcelain is blue and white. One group has cloudy, blurred
houses and trees, impressionistic landscapes, and flying birds. This
pattern occurs in fragments of teacups, small bowls, and a coffee cup.
Another type has a border of diamonds within diamonds, elaborate floral
designs delicately drawn, and a fine thin body. Similar sherds were
found at Rosewell. At Marlborough the design survived in teacups, coffee
cups, and saucers. There are several additional border designs, some
associated with Chinese landscape subjects or human figures (figs. 76,
ill. 24, and fig. 77, ill. 25). A coarse type with a crudely designed
border hastily filled in with solid blue is represented in a partly
reconstructed plate (USNM 60.122, fig. 77).
Polychrome porcelain is found in lesser amounts, although in almost as
much variety. Three sherds of a very large punchbowl are decorated in
red and blue. Fragments of a small bowl have delicate red medallions
with small red and black human figures in their centers. Fine borders
occur in red and black. Gold, yellow, and green floral patterns
constitute another class (fig. 75).
Almost all the porcelain is of high quality, probably reaching a peak
during Mercer's middle and prosperous years between 1740 and 1760. We
cannot expect to find any porcelain purchased after his death in 1768,
and certainly none appears to be connected with the Federal period or
with the so-called "Lowestoft" imported in the American China trade
after the Revolution.