< PreviousWhen we first encountered fragments of Philadelphia queensware from the I-95 project in 2008/2009, this was not a well-known pottery type among archaeologists or collectors. There were very few modern references to Philadelphia queensware and no known vessels in museum and private collections, which made it difficult for ceramic historians to say what this locally made ceramic might have looked like.4 A few examples of Philadelphia queensware had been recovered and tentatively identified from archaeological sites in Odessa, Delaware, and Center City Philadelphia in the late 1990s.5 As we continued to find more unusual-looking fragments from the I-95 project, we read and reread the available literature for clues. With no recent research on Philadelphia queensware available, we launched our own investigation. While piecing together the fragments of queensware pottery from the I-95 project, we have also been reconstructing portions of its manufacturing history from period newspapers, surviving personal correspondence, and other historical records. Portions of three Philadelphia queensware saucers were recovered during excavations in 2009 at the Remer Site in Kensington. These examples are unusual because they were fired once but never glazed and fired a second time. Each appears to have flaws and kiln damage that caused them to be discarded as kiln waste. Notice the most complete saucer has a defect in the rim and one of the other examples has black soot staining that would have marred the appearance of the finished product. Photograph by Thomas J. Kutys, 2018. cm0502inch40 | Vol 3 | 2018 | River ChroniclesPhiladelphia queensware imitated the forms and decorations of contemporary English ceramics—particularly creamware and pearlware, a more refined, whiter ceramic popularized in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Our research reveals that queensware potters in America went beyond simply copying the styles of English ceramics by creating plaster molds from the imported examples to make exact duplicates. In 1817, Thomas Vickers, a queensware potter in Chester County, Pennsylvania, described the process to Thomas Rotch of Ohio. As Vickers explained in a letter, “thee will not find much difficulty in casting plaster moulds from coffee and tea pot spouts etc, but also from oval coffee and tea pots, which are all moulded, and is done in Europe principally by women and children.”6 Here two Philadelphia queensware tea cups (1808–1822) and a Philadelphia queensware saucer are compared to a contemporary English creamware tea cup and saucer (1762–1820). Note that the Philadelphia queensware is considerably more yellow than the English creamware. While the locally made cups are slightly larger and a bit thicker, attention was given to shaping and trimming the foot rings encircling the bases. The American queensware saucer is a half inch smaller in diameter, but is thicker and heavier—as though made by an inexperienced worker, or perhaps the base was not trimmed completely when the piece was made. Even with a section of the rim missing, the locally made saucer weighs 177 grams, as compared to the complete English example, weighing only 153 grams. Photograph by Thomas J. Kutys, 2018.Archaeological excavations in progress at the Remer Site located in the shadow of I-95 on Shackamaxon Street in Kensington. This archaeological site is named for the family that lived on the property in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The first members of the family to reside on the site were Matthew and Sarah Remer. AECOM project photograph, 2009.cm0502inchRiver Chronicles | Vol 3 | 2018 | 41In the years after the American Revolution, special attention was placed on promoting a wide range of American manufacturing endeavors. In 1792, the Pennsylvania Society for the Encouragement of Manufactures and the Useful Arts advertised a monetary award to anyone who could locate suitable clay for the production of domestic ceramics—queensware in particular.7 A decade later in 1802, the Chemical Society of Philadelphia made a similar offer for “the best clay to be found in the United States, fit for the manufacture of Earthen Ware, and not inferior to the common imported Queensware.”8 While it is not known if any of the prizes were awarded, the announcements point to the growing desire to assert independence in manufacture.At the top left is an octagonal English pearlware plate with a green molded shell-edged decoration around the rim (1790–1830). At the bottom left is an octagonal Philadelphia queensware plate decorated with a green rim that copies the English example. The partially reconstructed Philadelphia queensware plate with a scalloped rim to the right imitates the “Royal” pattern popular on contemporary English plates. Photograph by Thomas J. Kutys, 2018.cminch050242 | Vol 3 | 2018 | River ChroniclesThe Columbian Pottery, established by Archibald Binny and James Ronaldson, was the first large-scale manufacturer of queensware in Philadelphia. The two men, immigrants from Scotland, were business partners in a successful type foundry in the city. On August 3, 1807, they published a notice in the United States Gazette announcing plans to open their new factory with “a person who has been bred in Britain to the Pottery business.”9 Although the individual’s name was not revealed, the person they referred to was Alexander Trotter, Binny’s nephew.10 Trotter, who arrived in Philadelphia on July 17, 1807, was also a native of Scotland.11 The notice for the new pottery, which was widely published, also asked members of the public to submit samples and provide information on the availability of clay and flint, the raw materials necessary to begin manufacture.12 Several letters of response survive, showing that samples were sent from nearby Chester County, Pennsylvania, as well as Raritan, New Jersey, New Haven, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C.13 The clay and flint were processed at the pottery; test pieces were formed and fired in order to establish the qualities of the materials for making queensware. A few of the writers requested further details about the trials conducted on their samples. To date, no additional documents or correspondence have been found and it is not known if any of these clay sources were used in the manufacture of queensware. On the right is a nearly complete English creamware porringer (1762–1820) and, below, the rim and body of a locally made vessel of similar form. Although porringers are not listed in the advertisements for the Columbian and Washington potteries, they represent a common ceramic form of this period, often made by redware potters in Philadelphia. Porringers were useful for serving porridge at breakfast, as well as to reheat stew or broth for supper. Photograph by Thomas J. Kutys, 2018.cm0502inchRiver Chronicles | Vol 3 | 2018 | 43The Columbian Pottery was in operation by 1808, when Trotter’s wares were exhibited at Peale’s Museum in Philadelphia.14 There are no known illustrations or records describing the pottery buildings that once stood on South Street (also known as Cedar) between Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets. Most of the information about this early Philadelphia industry comes from period newspapers. In October 1810, a notice in the Democratic Press announced the expansion of the pottery and provided a list of the ceramic forms made there: Domestic Manufacture. The Proprietors of The Columbian Pottery... have greatly improved the quality of their ware, as well as added to their works, so as to enable them to keep a constant supply proportioned to the increasing demand. Dealers from all parts of the United States will find their interest in applying as above, where there is always on hand a large assortment of tea and coffee pots, pitchers and jugs of all sizes, plain and ornamented, wine coolers, basons and ewers, baking dishes &c &c at prices much lower than they can be imported.15Glazed earthenware (redware) pitcher, made by Thomas Haig’s Pottery, Philadelphia, 1830 (8.75 x 7.63 x 6.88 inches). Notice similarity in form and decoration between this redware pitcher and queensware fragments above. Courtesy of Philadelphia Museum of Art, gift of John T. Morris, 1892-78. cm0502inchThe expansion was likely due to an increase in the workforce with the addition of two potters: James Charlton and Thomas Haig. Their names appear in the Philadelphia city directory for 1810 with addresses listed in the vicinity of the Columbian Pottery.16 The city directories were often a year or more behind, and by the time of the listing, Charlton had already left the Columbian Pottery. He appears to be the same James Charleton who worked briefly in 1806 and 1807 at two different newly established queensware potteries in Charlestown, Brooke County, Virginia (now the town of Wellsburg, West Virginia).17 Thomas Haig was a trained queensware potter who—like Binny, Ronaldson, and Trotter—had emigrated from Scotland.18 Haig left the Columbian Pottery after a few years and by November 1812, his address was listed as Beach Street in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia.19 The temporary increase in the workforce provided a sufficient quantity of pottery by November of 1810 to warrant the opening of a warehouse closer to the center of the city at 66 North Second Street.20 The establishment of the Columbian Pottery warehouse may have been in response to competition from the newly established Washington Pottery, which had advertised a warehouse in May 1810.21 212a1aThese partially reconstructed Philadelphia queensware pitchers represent some of the different sizes offered by the Columbian and Washington potteries. Most of the pitcher fragments recovered from the I-95 project to date have straight necks or collared rims and bulging shoulders, with bodies that taper near the bases. The smallest example (shown at center) has a slightly different shape and might be a creamer. Each of these pitchers features a band of ribs around the body—likely created by holding a comb-like tool against the newly formed vessel as it was being finished on the potter’s wheel. Photographs by Thomas J. Kutys, 2018.Map of Philadelphia showing the approximate locations of three queensware potteries and warehouses in relationship to the I-95 archaeological project area. Base map: Detail of To the citizens of Philadelphia, this new plan of the city and its environs is respectfully dedicated by the editor, Charles P. Varle, 1802. Courtesy of David Rumsey Map Collection, www.davidrumsey.com11a22aColumbian PotteryColumbian Pottery WarehouseWashington Pottery/Seixas KilnsWashington Pottery/Seixas WarehouseAn advertisement appeared in the Alexandria Gazette in Virginia on October 18, 1810, offering “[a] large assortment of Columbian and Washington ware from the potteries in Philadelphia, by the crate or retail.”22 This advertisement is especially significant because it shows that the pottery produced at these two Philadelphia potteries was being distributed far beyond the city limits. By July 1814, Alexander Trotter had moved to Birmingham, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to establish his own pottery.23 There is no further mention of the Columbian Pottery after his departure, seeming to indicate that queensware production had ceased by that time.To date, only two pieces of marked queensware have been discovered. A chamber pot was recovered during archaeological excavations in Alexandria, Virginia, and a marked bowl was identified from the National Constitution Center Site in Philadelphia.1 Both were made at the Columbian Pottery and appear to be stamped using typeface most likely made at Binny and Ronaldson’s type foundry. The light-colored clay and distinctive decorations on the marked pieces are the same as many of the unmarked examples excavated from along I-95 in Philadelphia, as well as in Lancaster and Camden. These two marked pieces confirm the lost identity of Philadelphia queensware. PerspectivesColumbian Pottery Maker’s MarkCourtesy of the Alexandria Archaeology Museum.cm0502inch46 | Vol 3 | 2018 | River ChroniclesJohn Fitzpatrick Mullowny established the second queensware factory—the Washington Pottery—on March 4, 1810. A decade prior to opening the pottery, Mullowny was a distinguished captain in the United States Navy. In 1800, while captain of the ship the Ganges, Mullowny captured two American vessels (Phebe and Prudent) carrying African slaves bound for Havana and sent the ships and their human cargo to Philadelphia.24 The Pennsylvania Abolition Society indentured the 135 people rescued from the ships to local families.25 By 1809, Mullowny was involved in the manufacture of bricks and operated brickworks located on Locust Street near the Schuylkill River.26 While he was occasionally listed in the Philadelphia directories as a brickmaker, we have found no evidence to date that Mullowny was trained or worked in that trade.27 Two styles of Philadelphia queensware chamber pots have been recovered from the excavations along I-95. Although none of the pots from the project are marked, one example here is similar in form and features the same ribbed decoration as an example excavated in Alexandria, Virginia, that is stamped “COLUMBIAN.” The larger chamber pot illustrated closely imitates contemporary English creamware and pearlware forms. Photograph by Thomas J. Kutys, 2018.Two sherds of Philadelphia queensware with variations of a raised diamond decoration were recovered from excavations in Fishtown. The design was probably molded from English ceramics, like the pearlware and yellow-glazed pitchers shown here (both from a private collection). Photograph by Thomas J. Kutys, 2017.cm0502inchRiver Chronicles | Vol 3 | 2018 | 47John Mullowny noted the exact date of the opening of his Washington Pottery in a letter he sent to President James Madison on October 26, 1810. His letter provides a number of interesting details about the business venture, as well as clearly stating his role as the proprietor and identifying James Charlton as the English-born potter: Sir,I have the honor to send for your Excellencys acceptance per the Sloop Unity Caleb Hand Master a Pitcher as a specimen of the ware manufactured at the Washington Pottery in Philada where of I am proprietor and Mr. James Charleton (an Englishman by birth) the manufacturer. The pottery employs about 15000$ capital and makes about 150$ in value per week, it commenced on the 4th March last, it will be extended as soon as workmen can be obtained or boys taught the art of manufacturing as in England. As far as the ware merits I beg leave to solicit your Excellencys support and encouragement the materials are all in our Country, any information your Excellency may wish concerning such establishments will be given cheerfully. With sentiments of respect I am Your Excellencys most obedient very humble servt. ... Jno Mullowny.28 These three Philadelphia queensware vessels show variations in size and shape of basins. The example in the center is decorated with a repeating impressed pattern below the rim. Large vessels like these were often used as wash basins and sold with a water pitcher, called a ewer. The more complete basins shown here finally confirm our identification of the rim fragments recovered in 2011 from the Smith-Maskell archaeological site in Camden, New Jersey. Photograph by Thomas J. Kutys, 2018.cminch050248 | Vol 3 | 2018 | River ChroniclesMullowny advertised frequently in the newspapers, marketing his pottery as Washington ware and announcing various improvements and new decorations. By 1813, Mullowny was appealing to merchants in New York City, Wilmington, Delaware, and Baltimore, Maryland—perhaps suggesting that the local market had been saturated with Philadelphia queensware.29 The advertisements also provide a lengthy list of the different forms available by that date: …Teapots, sugars, creams, chambers, peppers, salt, mustards, shupes, basins & ewers, bowls, cups & saucers, jellies, mugs, toys, egg cups, garden pots, butter coolers, butter boats, goblets, tumblers, jars, wine coolers, baking dishes, large plates, breakfast plates, relish plates, oval dishes, milk pans, porter mugs, tureens, candle sticks, funnels, coffee pots, red, black and yellow, Pitchers, a very great variety, etc. etc…30 Many of the items on this list are easily identified common forms; however, some of these terms are less familiar, and without illustrations or detailed descriptions, it is difficult to know exactly what the vessels might have looked like. The archaeological excavations along I-95 and recent searches through previously excavated materials are aiding in identification of more of these forms. Where was the Washington Pottery located? For many years, there has been uncertainty among ceramic historians regarding the location of the Washington Pottery kilns.31 The Philadelphia city directories recorded Mullowny at two different addresses between 1810 and 1816.32 Mullowny seems to have added to the confusion by occasionally advertising the Washington Pottery using the address for the pottery warehouse, “High near Schuylkill Sixth Street” (now known as Market and Seventeenth Streets).33 Our research uncovered the historic documents that pinpoint the location of the kilns, which turned out to be neither of the addresses recorded in the directories. In 1814, three adjoining properties were listed for sale on “High near Schuylkill Sixth Street.” Property #3 was identified as the “Warehouse of the Washington Pottery.”34 The notice described the structures on the property; however, there was no mention of the Washington Pottery kilns. Four years later, a newspaper notice dated February 25, 1818, announced the auction of a large property along the Schuylkill River near Locust Street described as: “All that lot and wharf, with the buildings fitted up as a pottery, with two large kilns &c. in the English stile…”35 This mention of English style seems to refer to the bottle-shaped kilns commonly used in England for firing refined earthenware.36 While there is no mention of Mullowny or the Washington Pottery in the auction notice, the deed for the sale of the property, dated March 17, 1818, records the transaction between John Mullowny and Philadelphia merchant Jacob S. Waln.37This single sherd from the mid-section of a queensware egg cup is the only example of this form recovered from the I-95 project to date. The outline approximates what the complete form might have looked like. The upper portion features green decoration, probably accomplished by sprinkling or dabbing a metallic oxide on the egg cup when the piece was glazed. Illustration by Allison Butchko, 2018; photograph by Thomas J. Kutys, 2018Potteries in England commonly used bottle-shaped kilns, like this example in Corbridge, Northumberland. Mike Quinn / Bottle kiln no.1 / CC BY-SA 2.0.River Chronicles | Vol 3 | 2018 | 49Next >