A City on the River: The Early Red Earthenware of the Hartford, Connecticut Area

The stoneware manufactured in Hartford, Connecticut in the nineteenth century is a well-known subject today, which served a larger area than just the local marketplace, utilizing the Connecticut River for transportation. In fact, some of the stoneware was inspired by the industry in New York City. Although, it was red earthenware that was actually the original type of household pottery produced in the area, dating as early as the 1700s, where some of the early wares may have been influenced by production in Massachusetts. In some years, thousands of pieces of red earthenware were produced, utilizing the local clays, resulting in a wide range of accomplished wares, some of which were embellished with dramatic styles of hand-applied slip decoration. The most famous of the potters were the Seymours, the Goodwins and Hervey Brooks, but there were other potters as well. This book is the first of its kind to take an in-depth look at the various types of wares manufactured in the Hartford area, as well as the variety of domestic red earthenware artifacts recovered along the Connecticut River within eighteenth and nineteenth century archaeological contexts.