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44 — Antiques and The Arts Weekly — February 28, 2020

Nineteenth Century slip-decorated red earth-


enware jar adorned in flowers, eagles and a General Henry Champion (1751-1836), for whom Cham- Another view of the jar decorated with
peacock. pion, N.Y., was named. flowers, eagles and a peacock.

Early Pottery Manufactured In Champion, N.Y.


By Justin W. Thomas an corn and oats. ment the family’s yearly income as been the only red earthenware manufac-
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the collec- While living in Champion, Dewey farmers. tory based in Champion, for upwards of
tion of the National Museum of Ameri- may have been an employee of the According to authors Samuel Durant 40 or more years leads one to believe that
can History at the Smithsonian Insti- Brown family, who owned the first and and Henry B. Peirce, who published the the advertising jar owned by the Nation-
tute there is a Nineteenth Century perhaps only pottery that operated in book, History of Jefferson County, New al Museum of American History may
slip-script red earthenware jar from the town. James Brown (1772-1857) York in 1878, “Elam worked with his have been manufactured at their busi-
northern New York. The information was a native of Warren, Worcester father on the farm and in connection ness.
written on this jar, decorated with flow- County, Mass.; his wife, Anna Brown with his other business until he was 40 The history of this business is intrigu-
ers and inscribed in slip, represents a (1778-1858) was born in Bennington, years of age, receiving only a limited ing; for example, James and Anna Brown
business and location that are largely Vt. They had four children, including opportunity for an education from books, first migrated from New England to
unknown today: “Earthenware / Factory Elam Brown (1802-1881), who was but became well-schooled in business Madison, N.Y., in 1790. He may have
Champion Jefferson / State of New born in Bridgewater, Oneida County, pursuits.” This appears to be the only already been a trained potter at this
York.” N.Y., on December 13, 1802. He was the information ever published about the point, but he may have also learned the
Champion, N.Y., was settled around eldest son. The family moved to Cham- Brown family pottery. potter’s trade after he moved to New
1798 in Jefferson County, and named pion in 1803, where James’s name is But there may have also been a lasting York. This would not have been an anom-
after General Henry Champion (1751- found among the earliest settlers of the friendship formed between Elam and aly since other documented potters who
1836), who served in the Continental town. He engaged in farming, opened a Jared Dewey after he left Champion. For migrated to New York in the Nineteenth
Army during the Revolutionary War; he public house, built a gristmill, carried instance, in 1843, Elam married Mary Century are known to have acquired
fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill on on a pottery business, and manufac- Waldo (1819-1859) of Rutland, they had their craft after they arrived. The 1790s
June 17, 1775. The town was established tured brick. Like Dewey’s story, not a two sons, and Dewey may have been liv- would have also been very early for busi-
in 1800 from part of Mexico (now Oswe- lot of information is documented about ing in Rutland at this time. Unfortu- ness for this area; there is hardly any
go) County, N.Y., on the northern frontier, the Brown family pottery, but it was nately, his first wife died in 1859, and he documented production before 1800 in
not far from the shores of Lake Ontario likely a company created to supple- married Agnes Pease (d 1868) of Rome, areas not associated with downstate
and the Canada border. Early settlers N.Y. New York and the Hudson River.
hoped it would become the locale for the The fact that the Browns seem to have The style of the slip found on this jar is
county seat. considered rare for upstate New York
When Champion was settled, it was a during this period, with only a small
part of a movement that followed the group of potters known to have been
American Revolution, when land involved with any type of slipware pro-
throughout parts of upstate New York duction. Some of those businesses
opened up for settlement, and men and include the Nathaniel Rochester (1752-
women migrated from all over, including 1831) Pottery in Rochester, Heber Kim-
New England, Pennsylvania, Maryland ball (1801-1868) in Mendon, Elijah Cor-
and Virginia. Some of these migrations nell (1771-1862) in DeRuyter, and John
were a result of a religious quest, seeing Betts Gregory (1783-1842) in Clinton.
that at the time, parts of New York were The form of the jar is similar to a small
engulfed with new religious movements, group of slip-decorated red earthenware
such as Mormonism. jars generically attributed to upstate
The formation of these new settlements New York today, with little information
and towns presented opportunities for to support a more specific location or
potters to relocate and operate their own business. And those forms are similar to
businesses. According to the information a jar heavily incised with branches and
on file with the National Museum of flowers, where the incised lines have
American History, “The jar was made by been infilled with slip. Furthermore, the
Jared Dewey (b about 1792) who appears jar is adorned in slip with eagles and a
along with Herman Dewey in Champion Nineteenth Century slip-decorated peacock.
Township in the 1820 New York State Nineteenth Century slip-script red red earthenware jar usually generi- The history behind the Smithsonian’s
Population Census.” He is also listed as earthenware jar, inscribed, “Earth- cally attributed to New York — the jar and red earthenware production in
an earthenware potter in Jefferson enware / Factory Champion Jeffer- decoration includes a tulip. A small Champion is an excellent example of how
County, N. Y., by Winterthur’s Library, son / State of New York.” Attributed group of these jars is known to exist there is a lot yet to be learned about
based on information obtained from the to Jared Dewey in Champion, New today. Courtesy Greg Kramer. early pottery production in America. Not
Decorative Arts Photographic Collection York, circa 1820. only is this jar skillfully thrown and dec-
before 1920. orated in slip-script, but also it was man-
Very little is known about Jared Dew- ufactured in a community of nearly 2,100
ey’s life or his involvement with the pot- people in 1820. It is because of the script
tery industry, although he shows up that this jar can be identified to a specific
alongside Herman Dewey again in the location — and without this information,
1830 United States Federal Census, liv- this jar would likely be misinterpreted
ing 18 miles southwest of Champion in for production from somewhere else. The
Rodman. In addition, his name appears importance of this jar should not be
in the 1850 United States Federal Cen- understated; this piece of living history
sus, this time residing eight miles west of represents the town Champion, its early
Champion in Rutland, N.Y., cited as settlement and a local pottery business,
being 58 years of age. He is listed as a which this writer suspects is not the only
farmer; there is no evidence that he con- example of surviving Champion red
tinued to manufacture pottery once he earthenware in existence today. The
left Champion, even though the combina- Smithsonian National Museum of
tion of farmer/potter was a regular American History is at 1300 Constitu-
means of employment throughout rural tion Avenue, NW. For further informa-
America in the 1800s. His farm was val- tion, www.americanhistory.si.edu.
ued at $500 and his farm equipment $30. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are
He also owned a horse, cows, sheep and The jar is decorated with flowers in courtesy National Museum of American
swine, as well as bushels of wheat, Indi- A view of the slip-script. slip. History at the Smithsonian Institute.

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