Shards2016autumn

AUTUMN 2016

GREETINGS FROM OUR PRESIDENT Dear Members, It has been a pleasure serving as President of the Ceramics Study Club of Boston! For those of you who are relatively new members, this is my second term as President, having served from 2004 – 2006. I do like being involved with such an interesting and friendly group of people who are bound together by a mutual interest in, and passion for, ceramics. The fact that our collective field of interest is so broad, from the ancient to the contemporary and spanning all corners of the globe, makes the club a real treasure and something of a rarity in today’s world. . Every meeting is an opportunity to learn something new.

I mention this now because with the upcoming Annual Meeting, we will be electing new officers, as we do every two years. If you have ever thought about increasing your involvement, now is the time to make your interest known, either to me, Abigail Homer who spearheads our nominating effort, or any other member of the board who can pass the message on to us. The tasks are enjoyable and participating as a board member, puts you in the center of the longest running group devoted to the study and appreciation of ceramics in the country!

We have successfully navigated the change of the name of the club from the China Students’ Club of Boston, Inc. to the Ceramics Study Club of Boston and our financial positon is stable thanks to a generous donation in 2015 and the addition of a development position to the Board of Directors. However, we are still largely dependent on membership dues for our everyday funding and I encourage you to renew promptly later this spring. Renewal notices will be emailed to all who have provided an email address, so please watch for the notices which will be sent prior to the Annual Meeting, which is scheduled for 25 May. There will also be a vote taken to accept the Board’s recommended revisions to the by-laws, so attendance at the meeting is most certainly encouraged.

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As I write this, we have four great programs ahead of us, three of which involve participation by our members, Merry Glosband and Amanda Lange will be speaking on Native American pottery of the Southwest and the impact on the excavations at Pompeii on the American home, respectively (full titles of both lectures are printed in the Blue Book), as well as the popular Bits and Pieces, an opportunity to look at objects of interest brought in by members. I hope to see you at one, if not all, of these events! Friends and guests are always welcome at our meetings.

Best wishes to all, Carolyn Parsons Roy

A NEW LECTURE SEASON BEGINS WITH AMERICAN PORCELAIN The first talk of our 2016-2017 lecture season as the newly re-branded Ceramics Study Club of Boston took place on September 29th at the King’s Chapel Parish House when we were treated to a talk by Caroline Cole, the Ellyn McColgan Assistant Curator of American Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the MFA, Boston, who spoke to us on the subject of Tucker Porcelain: Industry for a New Nation. A patriotically-themed talk during the throes of an election year.

Caroline’s lecture was the result of the MFA’s acquisition of a thirty-seven piece collection of Tucker porcelain which she oversaw from start to finish, including its recent exhibition in the museum galleries. The MFA had previous to this donation only a thirty piece dinner service of Tucker porcelain and this new acquisition better represents the output of this famous, but shortlived factory.

The William Ellis Tucker Porcelain Manufactory was America’s first successful hard-paste porcelain maker, operating from 1826-1828. Despite its short life span, it produced a wide range of wares, almost completely modeled after European forms of the period. The Tucker family left a large archive detailing the factory’s history and Tucker pieces have been collected since the late 19th century not only for their beauty, but as examples of early American industrial history; it is the aspirational story of an underdog family-owned business competing with first rate imported wares.

In the early19th century, there were basically three types of marketable ceramic ware. There was basic, traditional tablewares made by local potters in small kiln loads. Another was tablewares made of stoneware or earthenware produced on a more industrial level with molds and mechanized processes. And finally, industrialized wares needed by the economic expansion and building boom, such as portable furnaces, stove cylinders, fire bricks, slabs and dentists’ furnaces.

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Note porcelain is not on the list as it requires a more specific set of ingredients and chemical combinations as well as the experienced artisans to produce it. It is therefore much more difficult to maintain a consistent product that can be imported with European porcelain.

And so, how does any great venture in America get started? By asking Daddy for some money, of course! In 1826, William Ellis Tucker procures a loan from his father, Benjamin Tucker, a Philadelphia Quaker, teacher and merchant. William had been experimenting with porcelain recipes and taking chemistry classes at the city’s Franklin Institute. William forms a partnership with another local merchant Charles Bird, and they convert an old waterworks into a porcelain manufactory. The kaolin required was sourced locally in Chester County, PA, and from as far away as Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. Recipes based on earlier printed source material were tinkered with until a solution was found. Looking at their output one can see that “defects” were a hallmark of their early production as they never quite achieved the level of quality of European porcelain.

In 1827, despite his first partner bailing on him, Tucker produces his first kiln load of porcelain, pitchers being the first form he made and the “Walker” shape was by far the most popular form.

This shape appears in the company pattern book in eleven different decorative schemes. In 1828, a second partner, John Hulme, is brought into this money pit of a project and promptly leaves within three months. Labor appears to have been one of the biggest expenses, requiring skilled and experienced people-either training them, or importing them from Europe. Despite setbacks, Tucker persists. His porcelain shapes follow classical forms loosely based on antiquity such as the Campagna urn or vase form, copied directly from European forms, especially Paris porcelain. This evolves into a later Empire style heavier in look and with gilding. A rare Tucker anomaly in the MFA collection is a pair of chinoiserie style scent bottles. And, another treasure in the group is a Tucker pitcher decorated with an American eagle design taken from the Great Seal of the United States. Throughout all these pieces, though, are the minor firing imperfections and flaws that denote Tucker porcelain.

Examples of the well-known Tucker Pitcher as well as some popular patriotic decoration.

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Financial woes continue to dog the company to the point that William Tucker petitions both Andrew Jackson and the U.S. Congress for financial assistance. Needless to say, funds were not forthcoming, but Jackson did order a pair of vases! By 1831, another partner, one Judge Hemphill, provides an infusion of capital and a new factory is built along with a retail shop; wares are now being sent to both New York and Baltimore. By 1832, just as things are set in place with this new investment, William Tucker dies. His father sells the family’s shares to Judge Hemphill and, fortunately, William’s younger brother, Thomas, stays on as factory manager. Thomas had been working his way up the ladder at the factory, eventually persuading William to share with him the porcelain recipe. Along with his knowledge of the arcanum, Thomas is also an accomplished painter, and it is these final years, 1831-1836 that are the factory’s “Golden Age”.

There is a marked increase in the level of sophistication in both decoration and production. But, the Tuckers can never catch a break. The Bank Failure of 1833 leads to a national recession. By 1835 Hemphill engages more partners, but to no avail. In 1837 Thomas tucker leases back the company, presumably to sell off the inventory. And, he also marries, and his new bride disapproves of the late nights at the porcelain business and persuades her husband to abandon it and go into the cotton business. Fortunately he documented all the company’s decorative patterns and shapes which has provided a valuable archive in telling the story of “America’s first porcelain factory”.

More examples of Tucker porcelain; one can see the ‘Old Paris’ influence. And, Tucker on display at the MFA

IT’S ‘RED’ OCTOBER Our October meeting hosted the return of a well-known and favorite speaker, Robert D. Mowry, the Alan J. Dworsky Curator Of Chinese Art Emeritus from Harvard University who spoke to us on the subject of Seeing Red: Chinese Porcelains with Red Glazes and Porcelains with Underglaze Red Designs.

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Red has been a very popular and auspicious color in China since the earliest of times where it was applied to other forms of the decorative arts, manifesting itself quite late in the ceramic tradition.

Copper red was first introduced on low fired wares in the 1st-3rd centuries where it actually produced an emerald green. Later, early attempts to produce a red fired to a dark purple.

Underglaze copper red took a long period to develop with much trial and error. Cobalt blue, one of the classic staples of Chinese ceramic decoration is able, when fired, to hold very fine lines and hard edges. Cobalt is also very forgiving as to the firing temperature in the kiln. By contrast, underglaze copper red tends to be intransigent. The firing temperature has to be exactly right within a plus or minus five degree range to achieve the right color. The “right color” being, according to the Chinese, the color of crushed strawberries. In addition, the other problem with achieving this color is that it tends to bleed. When the temperature is not spot on, the color can be mauve or grey. If there is an excess of copper in the glaze, patches of green can appear. One can actually achieve a celadon green through a very skillful manipulation of the glaze. It wasn’t until around the mid-15th century that there was some mastery made of this elusive decorative technique.

By the Ming period the porcelain body that had been developed over the centuries continued to remain the same, but it was enhanced by a glaze perfected to be virtually colorless. Pieces were decorated in underglaze blue and copper red. The production of underglaze blue had been developed centuries earlier in the Tang dynasty but was used primarily for export wares to Indonesia and the Near and Middle East where they were imitated by local potters. Ironically, it comes full circle as China was united under Mogul rule in the 14th century and trade was facilitated to the Middle East bringing local wares and forms back into China, re-introducing blue and white and inspiring Chinese potters! It was also during Mogul rule in the Yuan dynasty that copper red on porcelain comes to the fore around 1320-1325. Quality is sporadic in this early period and a perfect red is achieved by chance. The problem continued to exist of having to make the copper behave; to maintain the right shade and to keep some sort of edge without bleeding.

Into the Ming dynasty demand grew as imperial connoisseurs requested more and better wares.

The designs were based upon blue and white prototypes until it finally dawned on them that the intricate patterns of blue and white didn’t work with red. So, in the first part of the 15th century they finally created a monochrome red, an all-over glaze that was compared to “crushed strawberries”. This was achieved by coating the vessel in an underglaze copper red and then coating it with a clear glaze. But one still had to achieve that perfect temperature, and so the rate of failure remained high.

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Previous page: Left, a Ming Period Monochrome Red Stem Cup and Right: a Yuan Period Stem Cup with the Copper Red in reserve forming the dragon design by silhouette.

Above Left: Copper Red decorated bottle vase, 2nd half of the 14th century and Right: an example of the fugitive nature of Copper Red.

Later developments of Red: Left, a Famille Verte piece from the Kanxgi period using Iron Red, circa 1700, and Right, an example of the full development of the Famille Rose palette by about 1740.

Another red was introduced in the late Ming period and that was Iron Red, produced from an iron oxide, it created a more tomato/orange color and it was usually applied over the glaze. It was often rendered in combination with other colors such as green, yellow, black and aubergine. This eventually becomes the palette of decoration referred to by collectors as Famille Verte.

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The last dynasty, the Qing dynasty saw in the early 18th century the last great innovation in the development of red in porcelain production with help from Europe. Jesuit missionaries in the Kangxi period (1622-1722) were not really allowed to proselytize their faith and appeared more at court as councilors or advisers. They brought with them knowledge of certain European technologies such as secrets from Venice for the making of pink and rose colored glass, which is done with the addition of gold. Chinese decorators were able to apply this theory to porcelain making. In conjunction with this, opaque enamels were produced by the addition of tin oxide. So, in a relatively short time, an entire spectrum of roses, pinks and lavenders were developed.

Nuances of shadow and depth could now be rendered with different shades and gradations of color, and by the Yongzheng period (1722-1736) Chinese decorators had a full mastery of what was referred to as “Foreign Colors”, now known to collectors as the Famille Rose palette.

So from the earliest attempts at Copper Red, to monochromes of “crashed strawberries”, to Iron Red overglaze enamels and the Foreign Colors of the Famille Rose, the Chinese have been for centuries “seeing red”.

THE VIVIAN HAWES MEMORIAL LECTURE ON PORTSMOUTH’S WARNER HOUSE For the last program of our ‘Fall semester’, the CSC convened on November 30th to celebrate the legacy of past president, club treasurer and remarkable ceramics scholar, Vivian Hawes. Each year our organization recognizes Vivian’s contributions with a lecture named in her honor. This year’s speaker, and our current Vice-President, Martha Pinello spoke on the subject of Warner House Portsmouth, NH 300th Anniversary Exhibit: Pottery Bits and Pots to Match. Martha, a professional archaeologist, was honored to speak at the Hawes lecture as she personally knew and worked with Vivian Hawes and speaks warmly still of Vivian’s encyclopedic knowledge, teamwork and generosity.

The Warner House in Portsmouth is the ancestral home of the Warner-Wentworth families from the time the house was built in 1716 through the 1930s. The Warner-Wentworths were a prolific clan whose social, political and commercial interests spread well beyond Portsmouth where they were established at the top of the ruling oligarchy throughout the 18th century. Needless to say, their home reflected their wealth and social standing. One of the most prominent features of the handsome house are extravagant early wall murals in the stair hall featuring a pair of Mohawk Indian chiefs, the source of much scholarly discussion as to their creation and creator. The house was nearly demolished in the 1920s to build a gas station, but fortunately prominent Portsmouth and Boston families stepped in and put a stop to that. The house has undergone very little architectural change over the centuries, but what changes that were made are reflected in the archaeology. Between 1995 and 1998, while some major drainage issues required attention, a Page 7

Getty Grant provided funds for archaeological digs to proceed around the property with the assistance of the Strawbery Banke Field School. As the family remained in the house until the 1930s, a picture of many generations and periods was revealed. Concurrently, as this research proceeded, excavations were also made at several other Wentworth family sites in order to get a bigger picture of what other branches of this prominent family were buying and using at the time.

When trying to get a picture of the buying habits and usage of ceramics at this time though, one also has to keep in mind the diversity and movement of members of these households. These establishments often had many extended family members beyond the basic unit of family as we think of it today. There could also be servants, slaves, and people with business connections, as well as extended family, coming, staying and going.

One of the major points Martha wanted to stress was the amazingly large and diverse group of ceramics and glass shards that this one house site has yielded. Their digs produced an abundance of shards, evidence of refined, coarse and early wares, whole examples of which can be found “above ground� in collections today. But also, there were discoveries of pieces of items that do not have whole examples extant today. Utilitarian wares for instance, common and cheap, were used, broken, and then tossed out, many intact forms are not known today. And still, in other instances examples of very prevalent and popular forms appear again and again, but in different bodies. A popular English ware imported tea bowl and saucer, may appear again in Chinese export porcelain and locally produced redware. Examples of ceramic bodies that occurred during these digs represent English stonewares, agateware, Chinese export porcelain, delftwares, and local redwares to name a few (not to mention all manner of glass!)

At present and ongoing, the Warner House is featuring tablesettings from various periods in its long history. What is so remarkable is the extent of beautiful objects presented that directly relate to shards and evidence excavated onsite, providing a picture of three centuries of life in this magnificent home.

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Examples, on the previous page and below of Warner House tablesettings using period wares based upon archaeological evidence left over the past three centuries.

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