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The Bell Pottery Collection At The Renfrew Museum In Waynesboro, Pa.
By Justin W. Thomas
The Renfrew Museum in
Waynesboro, Pa., has been a
must-see destination on my
radar for several years, but
living near Boston, Mass., it
has been a little out of the
way. During a recent trip to
the Mid-Atlantic, I made it a
priority to make it to
Waynesboro to see this small
museum’s permanent exhibit
of red earthenware and
stoneware, which happens to
be the country’s largest public
collection of pottery from the
The Bell pottery exhibit inside the Renfrew Museum Visitors Center.
This pair of large polychrome decorated red
earthenware lions are stamped “S. Bell & Son / This large red earthenware lion is attributed to John This red earthenware water cooler was made has “JWB” inscribed on base and also
Strasburg” (Virginia).
Antiques & Auction News — December 7, 2018 - - 9
Bell family of Pennsylvania,
Maryland and Virginia.
While on the trip, en route
to the museum, I had a
chance to acquire a 19th-cen-
tury red earthenware apothe-
cary jar. In fact, the character-
istic that really spoke to me
about this jar is that it
retained its original merchant
label from Houser’s Drug
Store on West Main Street in
downtown Emmitsburg, Md., a
historic little town located
about 15 miles southeast of
Waynesboro. A previous
owner had left a note adhered
Bell in Waynesboro, Pa.
to the interior of the original
tin lid, suggesting that John
Bell (1800-80) may have made
the jar in Waynesboro. Potters
in the Waynesboro area were
small, family-oriented busi-
nesses and manufactured
wares for the surrounding
communities.
According to the Renfrew
Museum, “The historic folk
potteries of the Franklin
County region were part of a
larger folk art tradition that
developed and flourished in
the Cumberland and
Shenandoah Valleys of
Pennsylvania, Maryland, West
Virginia and Virginia from the
late 1700s to the early 1900s.
The slip decorated red earthenware stead was owned by Daniel
bowl attributed to John Bell was one of Royer (1762-1838) from the
40 made for the Snow Hill 1790s through the 1830s and
Society/Nunnery, circa 1840.
by John Bell in Waynesboro, Pa.
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Here is a 19th-century red earthen-
ware jar likely made in Waynesboro,
Pa., with original merchant’s label from
Houser’s Drug Store in Emmitsburg,
Md.
They supplied a variety of
wares that met the food
preparation and storage
needs of nearby farm families
and communities, often asso-
ciated with the Pennsylvania
German cultural tradition.
They also met the aesthetic
needs and norms of rural life.”
The Renfrew Museum was
established in 1973 through a
generous bequest on behalf
of Emma Geiser Nicodemus
(1892-1973). The original farm-
later owned by the
A rare, tin-glazed red earthenware jar
made by John W. Bell inscribed around
the rim “April 22, 1858 Waynesboro”
has been impressed “John Bell.”
The display of three lions, a water cooler and a portrait of John Bell are right
inside the Renfrew Museum Visitors Center.
Nicodemus family. Much of
the pottery collection is dis-
played in glass cases inside
the Visitors Center, which
happens to be a converted
barn original to the property.
If you are not familiar with
the Renfrew Museum, it is a
must-visit. The picturesque
landscape surrounding the
farm buildings is breathtak-
ing, and there is more to see
than simply pottery.
Of course, the focus of the
pottery collection centered
around John Bell. Born in
Hagerstown, Md., Bell learned
the potter’s trade from his
father, Peter Bell (1775-1847),
and he later emerged as one
of America’s preeminent red
earthenware and stoneware
potters once his pottery
opened in 1833.
In many ways, Bell’s tech-
niques and innovative glazes
are among the best produced
during the period; many
scholars even refer to some
of Bell’s red earthenware
production as the best in
America.
Upon Bell’s death in 1880,
his son, John W. Bell (1828-95),
who worked for his father for
many years, gained ownership
of the pottery and operated
the Waynesboro business
from 1881 until his death in
1895. There was a fire in 1899,
and the Bell pottery ended
production all together in
Waynesboro in 1908.
Continued on page 18
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