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The history of the pottery that made this pitcher actually begins with Sheffield cutlery manufacturer Charles Hattersley (born England 1805). In 1852, Hattersley was impressed with the commercial success of porcelain trimmings—key escutcheons, door plates, door knobs and the like—turned…

By the 1880s, Trenton was awash in pottery start-ups. Eureka Pottery’s brief history is a good example of how much speculation was building in the industry at the time. In early 1883, Leon Weil established a small pottery at the…

Nineteenth-century bar pitchers are fascinating for the insights one can derive from the iconography of those that are decorated. Greenwood Pottery’s King Gambrinus pitcher is such an object. The low-relief figures on this press-molded pitcher tell two different stories. This…

Trenton’s pottery industry in the 1870s and 1880s was teeming with creativity in porcelain. To be sure, some potteries were making parian figures (Etruria Pottery) and porcelain hollow-ware (Excelsior Pottery) in the 1860s, but these were only the beginning. Ott…

From the 1780s through 1868, three generations of the McCully family operated at the heart of Trenton’s redware pottery industry producing mostly wheel-thrown utilitarian vessels for local and regional consumption.  At first engaged in small-scale handcraft production, becoming more prolific…

The name William Young is synonymous with the birth of the ceramic industry in Trenton, New Jersey. This beautiful porcelain pitcher inscribed to him is a testament to the skill of the partners who established the Excelsior Pottery in 1853…

Recent events in Washington DC bring to mind a critical moment in another era and the emergence of what may be the first commemorative pitcher made in the United States. The object, known today as the Colonel Ellsworth Pitcher, commemorates…

In addition to manufacturing table ware (plates, cups, bowls, etc.), art pottery (vases and figurines) and sanitary ware (bathtubs, sinks and toilets), Trenton’s industrial potteries produced specialized ceramic objects, as this 1927 advertisement from the Mitchell-Bissell Company demonstrates. The ad,…

The White House has always held a special fascination, not so much for particular occupants, but because the President’s house is the first home of Americans. Built and furnished largely with public funds, the White House has seen many furnishings…

We’ve posted about Isaac Broome’s Baseball Vases before, but given that both vases (one belonging to the New Jersey State Museum and the other to the Detroit Historical Society) are on display together, we feel they should get another mention.…