The Cultural History of Marlborough, Virginia Part 25

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 71.--WHIELDON-TYPE tortoisesh.e.l.l 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]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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).

TORTOISESh.e.l.l 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 tortoisesh.e.l.l 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.

Tortoisesh.e.l.l 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]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 73.--FRAGMENT OF QUEENSWARE PLATTER with portion of Wedgwood mark.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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, sh.e.l.l-edge and polychrome wares, early 19th century; and d, polychrome Chinese porcelain.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 princ.i.p.al styles by Wedgwood's many imitators, as well as by Wedgwood himself. The most familiar of these styles is the molded sh.e.l.l-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 sh.e.l.l-edge design has a slightly wavy edge, and the sh.e.l.l 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 coa.r.s.er and heavier, as well as whiter, and in some cases the sh.e.l.l edge was no longer actually molded but simply suggested by a painted border. Some variants were introduced that were not intended to be sh.e.l.l 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 sh.e.l.l-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).

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 76.--BLUE-AND-WHITE Chinese porcelain.]

The success of the new whiteware in permitting the use of underglaze blue resulted in a second cla.s.s 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 sh.e.l.l motif around the handle, have been found also.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Figure 77.--BLUE-AND-WHITE Chinese porcelain.]

The third cla.s.s 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 compet.i.tors, 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Ill.u.s.tration 33.--Blue-and-white Chinese-porcelain saucer (fig. 76, top left). One-half.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Ill.u.s.tration 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 d.i.c.k 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 a.s.sociated with Chinese landscape subjects or human figures (figs. 76, ill. 24, and fig. 77, ill. 25). A coa.r.s.e 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 const.i.tute another cla.s.s (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.

FOOTNOTES:

[180] See BERNARD RACKHAM, _Catalogue of the Glaisher Collection of Pottery & Porcelain in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge_ [England] Cambridge, England: (Cambridge University Press, 1935), vol. 2, pl. 150 B no. 2053; and vol.

1, p. 264.

[181] I. NOeL HUME, "Excavations at Rosewell, Gloucester County, Virginia, 1957-1959," (paper 18 in _Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology: Papers 12-18_, U.S. National Museum Bulletin 225, by various authors; Washington: Smithsonian Inst.i.tution, 1963), 1962. J. PAUL HUDSON, "Earliest Yorktown Pottery," _Antiques_ (New York, May 1958), vol. 73, no. 5, pp. 472-473; WATKINS and NOeL HUME, loc. cit. (footnote 173).

[182] RACKHAM, op. cit. (footnote 180), vol. 1, p. 158.

[183] W. B. HONEY, "English Salt Glazed Stoneware,"

[abstract] _English Ceramic Circle Transactions_ (London, 1933), no. 1, p. 14.

[184] Ibid.

[185] Ibid.; BERNARD RACKHAM, _Early Staffordshire Pottery_ (London, n.d.), p. 20.

[186] BERNARD RACKHAM and HERBERT READ, _English Pottery_ (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1924), p. 88.

[187] DOW, op. cit. (footnote 178), pp. 86-87.

[188] RACKHAM, op. cit. (footnote 185), p. 92.

[189] DOW, op. cit. (footnote 178), p. 92.

[190] A. M. GARNER, _English Delftware_ (New York: D. Van Nostrand and Co., Inc., 1948), fig. 23B.

[191] Ibid., fig. 37.

[192] RACKHAM, op. cit. (footnote 185), p. 28.

[193] Ibid., pl. 57.

[194] RACKHAM and READ, op. cit. (footnote 186), p. 96.

[195] Ibid., p. 97.