50 — Antiques and The Arts Weekly — April 14, 2023

William Pecker: A Massachusetts Red Earthenware &

New York City Stoneware Potter
By Justin W. Thomas
NEWBURYPORT, MASS. — A
small but noteworthy nugget of
information revealed in the
recently opened exhibition on the
work of Thomas W. Commeraw
at the New-York Historical Soci-
ety sheds light on the history of a
component of early Massachu-
setts stoneware production from
about 1810-20. This is the sub-
ject of detailed discussion in my
book, soon-to-be published by
Historic Beverly, titled South
Amesbury's Red Earthenware &
Stoneware: The 1791-1820 Wil-
liam Pecker Pottery (2023).
Like Commeraw’s story, the
history of William Pecker’s (1757-
1820) early Nineteenth Century
stoneware production had been
all but forgotten. In fact, Pecker
was only regarded as a red earth-
enware potter during the 1791-
1820 period by Twentieth Cen-
tury writers and scholars until
Ceramics in America editor Rob
Hunter published in 2004 John
Kille’s article “William Pecker
Jar.” The subject of that article
was an obscure salt-glazed stone-
ware jar stamped with a flower
and bird and impressed “Wm
Pecker” that had been discovered
at a Kentucky flea market.
This led to my eventually dis-
An early Nineteenth Century 2-gallon stoneware jar attrib-
uted to William Pecker impressed on one side with a bird
stamp and the other side is impressed with a fish stamp.
Photo courtesy Crocker Farm.
An advertisement from the Friday, June 22,
1802, issue of the Newburyport Herald and
Country Gazette, where William Pecker is
attempting to sell his pottery business,
among other assets.
Early Nineteenth Century stoneware jug
attributed to William Pecker impressed with
a flower; the jug was recently discovered in
California. Photo courtesy Leonard Gravier.
covering the forgotten where- stoneware pieces made by Pecker
abouts and kiln remains of Peck- have since surfaced into the
er’s stoneware production in antique marketplace, providing a
South Amesbury and Merrimac- foundation for my book.
port. A few dozen surviving The successful production of
stoneware requires a different
type of clay and a hotter kiln
temperature than the lower tem-
peratures for firing red earthen-
ware, so the immediate question
raised is “Where did William
Pecker learn how to make stone-
ware?”
There has been some previous
speculation that he may have
learned to in Charlestown, Mass.,
in the early 1800s, where Freder-
ick Carpenter (1771-1827) ran a
thriving stoneware business.
Pecker regularly advertised the
sale of his potter’s business from
as early as 1802. These include
seven different advertisements
in the Newburyport (Mass.) Her-
ald & Country Gazette in June
and July of 1802, which read, “A
convenient new two-story House,
Barn, Out-Houses, and Potter’s
works, with about one acre of
Land; Laying on the banks of the
Merrimack, in Amesbury, com-
modious for a country seat, or
ises. For particulars apply to Wil-
liam Pecker on said Premises -
Amesbury, June 22. N.B. A pew
and on half in the meeting-house,
in said parish will be sold also.”
I initially found it curious that
Pecker was trying to sell his
business, his livelihood and occu-
pation.
In my book, I show that Pecker
was a New York City trained
stoneware potter who first
learned to produce red earthen-
ware in Essex County, Mass. His
name appears alongside those of
Thomas Commeraw, Crolius,
Remmey and David Morgan,
among other Manhattan stone-
ware potters in the N-YHS
exhibit, sourced from informa-
tion published in the 1805 edi-
tion of Longworth's American
Almanack, New York Register,
and City Directory.
Pecker’s surviving stoneware
exhibits a Charlestown or Man-
hattan influence in form and
decoration. Aside from the mak-
er’s mark that Pecker used, he
also incorporated subtle amounts
of cobalt decoration into produc-
tion, sometimes further embel-
Small early Nineteenth Cen-
tury stoneware jug
impressed “Wm Pecker.”
Pecker also made a red
earthenware jug in this
same shape. Archaeological
evidence of this type of
stoneware jug has also been
recovered in the area of
South Amesbury and Merri-
macport, Mass. Photo cour-
tesy Crocker Farm.
ety of shaped jars and jugs. There
is also a double-open-handled
6-gallon stoneware presentation
jar known, impressed on each
side with a bird and fish stamps,
as well as a raised bust of George
Washington, similar to a seal,
and incised with the initials,
“S.H.”
William Pecker has always
been regarded as an accom-
plished red earthenware potter,
but the fact that he was also a
New York City trained stone-
ware potter, who perhaps learned
the craft from either the Crolius
or Remmey families, adds an
entirely new dynamic to his lega-
cy. Not only was he one of the
first potters in New England to
produce red earthenware and
stoneware successfully and
simultaneously, but his stone-
ware production may have also
developed from a New York City
industry that eventually inspired

TAG ALONG convenient for a mechanical

stand. 30 acres of excellent Land,
lishing or highlighting a flower,
bird or fish stamp that he used.
stoneware production up and
down the American Eastern Sea-

ESTATE SALES within a mile of the above prem- The known forms include a vari- board.

BEAUTIFUL MT KISCO (CHAPPAQUA) HOME ‘Beauty & Function: Japanese Folk Art’
200 Seven Bridges Rd. At The Phoenix Art Museum
Mt. Kisco, N.Y. PHOENIX, ARIZ. — The Phoe- The Phoenix Art Museum is at information, 602-257-1880 or
Fri & Sat April 14 & 15 10 - 4 nix Art Museum presents “Beau-
ty and Function: Japanese Folk
1625 North Central Avenue. For www.phxart.org.

Exquisite Nien Kampaur modular sofa and bench, black Art” from the Mayro-Strelitz Col-
leather sofa and pr modern chairs, oak dining table & lection,” on view through Novem-
chairs, Arts & Crafts Hutch, Several arts & crafts pieces, ber 19. In 1920s Japan, philoso-
wrought iron table & chairs, antique slant front desk, phers and craftspeople created
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Directions: From South: Exit 4 on 684, Left on 172, time, including pictorial shop
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Seven Bridges Rd. Please park on N. Bridgeway ic and metal utensils that feature Sign with wild boar registered trademark, Nineteenth Cen-
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