George,

Thanks for the quick response. I've downloaded the shape guide and it seems that I'll have to keep my terms descriptive rather than prescriptive! 

Since I'm sure many of the members of this list would not balk at a bit more information, the assemblage contained over two hundred ceramic vessels, of which 41 have the same brown annular design (which is how I'm generally referring to this design - if this is wholly wrong, someone please let me know). What makes these objects very interesting is that they were manufactured by at least three different companies from the late-1820s to the mid-1830s including the majority by Herculaneum and the rest by Spode and Rogers. Herculaneum Pottery Company (1796-1840), located in Liverpool and having an easier time exporting wares overseas compared to the inland potteries at Stoke, set up a warehouse where companies like Spode and Rogers sent articles to be placed on display. So connections existed beyond simply copying each others designs.

We also found at least one locally-produced ointment bottle from the early 1860s within the assemblage, which, in association with the fire insurance plans, deed transfers, and city directories for the property, represents the likely time frame in which the artifacts were deposited. It took about 30 years for these objects to go from being manufactured to being thrown down the privy, which lines up pretty well with Adams (2003) thoughts on ceramic time lag. 

So, Herculaneum pottery represents is a great little case study to highlight some interesting things about ceramic import, use, and deposition in mid-19th century Halifax. It also provides a commentary on what evidence we have available in Halifax and what we could do to make the integration of historical and archaeological data easier and more rewarding in the future.

If anyone has any regional experience with Herculaneum pottery, I would be very curious to hear about it. Two very useful publications on Herculaneum, one by Hyland (2005) and one by Smith (1970) both use shipping records to show that these wares were distributed throughout the commonwealth in respectable numbers.


Cheers,

Matt Munro


On 23/10/13, George Miller  <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Matt,
> 
> That rim is more common on printed wares from the late 18th and early 19th
> century. Turner was one potter that used this on printed wares. I do not
> know a name for the shape. The brown lined ware was a category in the
> Staffordshire potter's 1814 price fixing list and they were a little more
> expensive than shell edged wares from 1814 to 1833. More information can
> be found on these wares in my article "A Revised Set of CC Index Values for
> Classification and Economic Scaling of English Ceramics from 1787 to 1880.
> *Historical Archaeology *1991 Vol 25:1-25. Lined wares were being produced
> before the 1814 Staffordshire list, and they are common on Canadian
> military sites from the period of the War of 1812.
> 
> For cup and bowl shape names you can download "Common Staffordshire Cup and
> Bowl Shapes" from the web site of the Maryland Archaeological Conservation
> Laboratory Diagnostic Artifacts section. It was published in 2011.
> 
> Peace,
> George L. Miller
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 3:30 PM, Matt Munro <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> 
> > Hello everyone,
> >
> > I'm finishing up an article on pottery from a privy deposit in Halifax,
> > Nova Scotia, and I'm seeking help on terminology. If you look at the image
> > linked below in this email, you'll see a plate with edges which form 8
> > crests circumscribing the vessel. I'm wondering if anyone can tell me a
> > specific name or method to describe this form to differentiate it from
> > plain circular plates. Any suggestions or references would be most helpful.
> >
> >
> > http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h289/Archaeologist_Guy/90_zpsff042913.jpg?t=1382556212
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Matt Munro
> >
> 
>