The Pottery
Stephen Earp has conducted extensive research into early American pottery. He’s visited libraries, historical societies, and museums; examined historical artifacts, photographs, drawings, and descriptions of pottery. Where sound examples of redware exist, he utilizes them as prototypes for his work. Most of his work is modeled after pottery from New England. Some forms hail from the Mid Atlantic, Appalachia, and other areas of the Eastern United States.
Glazes
At Stephen Earp Redware, materials and colors are selected with an eye toward historical accuracy and local accessibility of materials, with one exception. Early American redware glazes were made with lead, but none of the materials utilized at Stephen Earp Redware contain lead.
Styles
Pottery at Stephen Earp Redware comes in two styles.
Brownware
(“Brown” on the Style/Decoration option of the Order Form)
Historically, glazes from each pottery shop exhibited distinct coloration due to the geological variation of materials used in different regions. The brownware glaze utilized at Stephen Earp Redware approximates the most common type of glaze applied to redware throughout its history. This glaze is the standard finish for pottery at the shop. Unlike its historical predecessor, this glaze does not include led, nor do any of the glazes utilized at Stephen Earp Redware.
Norwalk
(“Norwalk” on the Style/Decoration option of the Order Form)
In the Norwalk area of southwestern Connecticut, potters produced a somewhat brighter orange pottery--due to the clay and glaze materials found in that region--often splashed with manganese, producing a dark decorative motif. Stephen Earp Redware tries to capture the feel of early New England redware by drawing inspiration from the original Norwalk pottery.
Decoration
The overwhelming majority of traditional pottery from centuries past was unadorned. But decorated pottery certainly existed, and historically accurate representations and interpretations are available on the wares from Stephen Earp Redware. You’ll find scenes from nature--birds, leaves, wheat sprigs, and flowers, for example. You’ll also find sayings--witticisms, aspersions, polemics, biblical phrases, and dire warnings. The rims of plates produced in the Germanic communities of Pennsylvania during the 17th - 19th centuries are an especially rich source of written materials, as are plates produced in Norwalk, CT.
Stephen Earp Redware focuses on the two types of decoration most common to early redware: slip trailed and sgrafitto. Slip trail is liquid clay (slip) painted on pottery before it’s fired. Sgrafitto is incised decoration, decoration carved into the pottery, most often plates. The photographs in Stephen Earp Redware’s Brownware Catalogue depict plain as well as decorated items available.
Care and Use
Redware is an excellent insulator. Both cold and hot drinks hold their temperature longer in redware containers. Redware, because of its porous nature, is perfectly suited to oven baking, and it’s also a safe alternative for use in the microwave. However, it is important to avoid extreme temperature changes--such as moving a redware container directly from the freezer to the oven.
In order to be long-lasting, redware does require proper care. Wash redware with care; if treated roughly, it can chip. Though redware is dishwasher-safe, hand washing is recommended. Note too that if liquids stand in redware containers for an extended period of time, sweating occurs, and moisture rings can be left on table tops.
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See Our Selection of Plate Hangers & Racks - Includes Plate & Bowl Stands |
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To Order Merchandise on Our Website Please Phone Us Toll Free 866-884-3299 or 610-695-8151
Real People will answer 10 to 5 Eastern Time Tue to Sat or
order by fax
or
After Hours Please leave a message, your name and a phone number and time when we can call you back |
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Click on Image to Enlarge
Redware Sgraffito
9.25" wide
Sorry - Sold |
Click on Image to Enlarge
Redware Sgraffito
9.25" wide
Sorry - Sold |
Click on Image to Enlarge
Redware Slip Trailed
Bunny
12.75" wide
x 9.5"high
$
165
In Stock |
Click on Image to Enlarge
Redware Slip Trailed
Pennsylvania
Dutch
11" wide
$
245
In Stock |
| Pottery vessels adorned with facial features have existed for millennia, and examples can be found on virtually every continent. “Grotesque” face jugs were produced in small but consistent numbers throughout the Eastern United States (and were especially common in the south), in both redware and stoneware, from the early 1800's onward |
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Face Jugs
3" High - Call
5" High - Call
7-8" High - Call
10-11" High - Call
Special Order |
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Norwalk Style
Large Puzzle Jug
8" High - Call
Special Order |
Puzzle Jugs
Puzzle jugs were trick drinking vessels found in taverns or brought out in homes to provide amusement and possibly embarrassment. The "puzzle" was to find the correct way to drink from the jug without spilling any liquor in the process. These jugs were rather rare
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Brownware Style
Small Puzzle Jug
5" High - Call
Special Order |
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Plain Redware Plates
7" Salad - Call
11" Dinner - Call
13" Charger/Serving - Call
Special Order |
Clay dishes were popular from the late 17th century onward. Plain, slip trailed (those decorated with clay slip) from Connecticut, and sgraffito (incised, or engraved, decoration) examples from Pennsylvania serve as models for flatware produced at Stephen Earp Redware |
Norwalk Style
Preserve Jars
Small 5"H - Call
Medium 7-8"H - Call
Large 10"H - Call
Special Order |
Preserve Pots, originally referred to as “Galipots,” are known for their collared rims, which were covered with sheets of parchment or bladder, tied off, and sometimes sealed with wax. The preserve pot is the precursor of the modern preserve jar made of glass |
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Re-usable jugs contained rose water (an early flavoring), rum, molasses and other liquids. The jugs of Stephen Earp Redware follow the rounded forms of early 19th century Connecticut potters, who attached strap handles to the shoulders of their jugs, rather than directly off the neck |
Oval storage jars have been made since pre-historic times. After 1790, a classical revival in Europe promoted interest in ancient Mediterranean shapes with strong, oval contours. The lidded oval jars of Stephen Earp Redware take their inspiration from jars made during this time |
Lidded Jar w/Handles
In the United States, excellent examples of this form were made in Southwestern Connecticut and Long Island, New York. These serve as models for the lidded jars with handles produced by Stephen Earp Redware |
Pipkins- Early Dutch paintings show pipkin-like forms placed on tables, holding broth, soup, or stew in individual proportions; they were also depicted holding medicinal mixtures. Their period of popularity was the 16th - 17th century; in the United States they were found primarily in New Amsterdam (which today we know as New York - 5-6"H |
Norwalk Style
Jugs
Small 4-5"H - Call
Medium 7-8"H - Call
Large 10-11"H - Call
Special Order |
Brownware Style
Oval Storage Jars
Small 4-5"H - Call
Medium 7-8"H - Call
Large 10-11"H - Call
Special Order |
Norwalk Style
Lidded Jars w/Handles
Small 4-5"H - Call
Medium 7-8"H - Call
Large 10-11"H - Call
Special Order |
Redware Sgraffito
14" wide x 11"high
Call
Special Order |
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To Order Merchandise on Our Website Please Phone Us Toll Free 866-884-3299 or 610-695-8151
Real People will answer 10 to 5 Eastern Time Tue to Sat or
order by fax
or
After Hours Please leave a message, your name and a phone number and time when we can call you back |
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Please Note: All Hand Made Items Are Unique, pottery may vary in color, pattern, shape, size or other physical characteristics. Bubbles, Grazing and glaze variations are traits of hand craftsmanship, no two pieces made by hand can be exactly the same, these are signs of uniqueness and NOT defects.
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