How to Identify Colonial-Era Pottery

A reproduction of an American redware jug has a cleaner look.

A reproduction of an American redware jug has a cleaner look.

Not all pottery used during the Colonial period originated in America. While the British were in control, American potters were prohibited from making stoneware, ceramic or porcelain pottery, requiring the Colonists to import these goods. While Colonial cities of the era usually had European-trained potters to make the utilitarian wares, less expensive to make than to import, farmers and rural folks made their own pottery. Not all Colonial-era pottery contained a fabrique mark -- a maker's mark -- making it hard to identify without a professional's assistance.

American-Made Redware

Of the American pottery made during the 17th and 18th centuries, most of it consisted of locally crafted earthenware -- also called redware -- made from clay with a high iron content that gave the items a characteristic red-orange appearance. Look for American redware in utilitarian items such as crocks, chamber pots, butter pots and one- or two-handled jugs. Not always of the best quality, you can identify American-made Earthenware by its crude and coarse appearance, minimal glazing -- sometimes on half the container -- and rusty orange to dark brown clay or glaze colors. Early American redware usually did not contain a fabrique mark.

Tin-Glazed Pieces

During Colonial times, importers brought tin-glazed earthenware pieces, called "delft," from England and Holland, and other similar products from other countries, faience from Germany and France, and majolica from Italy, Spain and Portugal. These pieces were made from earthenware clay with a dense tin glaze that covered the item all over. Never made in America, the Colonies received a lot of these goods from the middle of the 17th century through the 1750s. Delft pieces, as with white salt glaze pottery, were covered with a white glaze and cobalt-blue drawings. A small cobalt flask symbol identified delft pieces from Holland.

White Salt Glaze

At the middle of the 18th century, potters from the Staffordshire region of England developed a white salt glaze that gave pottery the look of porcelain from China. Typically made with a hard-paste mixture, look for Colonial-era Staffordshire pottery with the following marks: Wedgwood, Turner and Wood, and Caldwell. Also look for Staffordshire pottery from the potters Longport, Davenport and Spode.

Stoneware Items

The largest exporters of stoneware to the Colonies were Germany and England. The clay that went into stoneware included clays of many blends, which allowed the potters to make stoneware on potter's wheels. After reaching a bone-dry state, stoneware was fired until it vitrified to hold water. Identify it by its texture, which ranges from coarse to smooth, and its clay colors, ranging from white to dark brown. Many of these items had a salt glaze introduced during the firing process, which resulted in a clear, but rough and gravelly coating. Though salt-glazing could be used on certain earthenware and porcelain items, it's typically associated with colonial-era stoneware. Americans began producing stoneware in the mid-18th century after the Revolutionary War, copying many of the European styles. Many stoneware items contain the initials and last name of the potter, and the name of the town the item was made in.

Porcelain Pottery

Highly prized porcelain products during the Colonial period came from China. Porcelain pottery was made from a nonabsorbent, hard white clay found only in China at the time, until Europeans figured out a formula of their own during the early 18th century. Identify the Colonial-era pieces by their soft, translucent white glaze overlaid by an Asian-inspired hand-painted designs usually in a cobalt blue, but sometimes including reds, greens, yellows and deeper blues. The items depicted scenes of dragons, nature or everyday life. Look for fine hairline cracks in the white areas to identify older pieces. Marks usually signified the reigning emperor of the time. European maker marks of hard-paste porcelain included well-known Dresden, which changed marks throughout the years, from a stylized R-shaped design to crossed swords' emblems and others.

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