As an AMERICAN and SOUTH CAROLINIAN archaeologist I just want to say it wasn't me who supplied this lady. However, I do have numerous boxes of "chards"
some of which are "blue and white."  They are not for sale, though, so Mary, please don't call.... (unless the price is really, really right -- I have done CRM archaeology
so I can't really point fingers at people who "prostituted [the archaeological record] for financial gain ).

Anyway, we do in fact see Chinese "blue and white" porcelain in 1770s contexts, and at military sites. Blue and white "pearlware" or "creamware" was also imported
and for a short while between 1765 and 1770 made locally by transplanted English potter John Bartlam.

The mention of Stono Ferry (just south of Charleston) brings to mind an interesting archaeological example. Several years ago the property was up for development and
received a survey. The archaeologists found a Rev War earthwork, and recommended that it be preserved (as it was eligible to the NRHP). Later they returned and
found that a fairway for the golf course had been built anyway. The developer said, "Don't worry though, it's right over here..." They had bulldozed it, moved it off the
fairway and rebuilt it. The archaeologist, with SHPO concurrence, determined that the earthwork in its new location was still eligible to the NRHP... To my knowledge,
the developer was not penalized in any way.  Does this strike anyone else as being more bizarre than someone selling what is probably  transfer printed whiteware  and
claiming greater antiquity and historical association?

Carl Steen

5/27/2002 12:28:08 AM, Alasdair Brooks <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I always thought chard was a type of vegetable...
>
>Oh, alright - it's easy enough to be flippant when the seller, with or
>without Noel Hume's 'Guide' (with PICTURES!), clearly doesn't really know
>what he/she's dealing with.  Pieces which 'appear to be CHINESE'?  From
>c.1779 (maybe)?  In South Carolina?  Well, knock me down with a rubber
>spoon!  Clearly the original owners must have been rebels rather that
>Loyalists - the latter definitely would have been using good BRITISH pottery
>rather than disloyal evil foreign muck.  Or even stuff that merely 'appears'
>foreign. Only treacherous REBEL DOGS would do that (hey - this occasional
>use of capitals gets QUITE CATCHY after a while).
>
>More seriously, I would find the later comment "I fully guarantee everything
>I sell and receive from excavator's across this GREAT USA!" of considerably
>greater concern  (and no, not for the misplaced apostrophe or possibly
>equally misplaced patriotism).
>
>I suppose in this particular case someone could contact the seller in
>non-archaeologist guise and find out who this 'noted AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGIST'
>who works in the area on a 'DAILY' basis is.  There might conceivably be a
>reasonable explanation of how the pottery left the site in the first place,
>and the noted ARCHAEOLOGIST might have no idea that this stuff's found its
>way onto the market.  Whoever it is, if they're taking a cut, they're not
>hoping for much of a profit off a reserve price of US$1.
>
>And remember, the best way for Americans to commemorate your fallen soldiers
>on US Memorial Day is to pay shipping and handling fees that are more than
>three times the reserve price of the small, worthless fragments of broken
>pottery that you're bidding for....  Ain't internet capitalism groovy -
>there's no day or event so solemn that it can't be prostituted for financial
>gain.
>
>Alasdair Brooks
>
>>> Item Description:
>>> Dear Bidders: What is being offered for your consideration are 16
>>> choice pieces of Blue and white Pottery chards excavated in South
>>> Carolina near the site of The Battle of Stono-Ferry 1779. Each pottery
>>> chard displays various shades and hues of Blues with some white and some
>>> darker. There are floral scenes, scroll workings, concentric circular
>>> designs and even some pieces which appear to be "CHINESE" (go figure?)
>>> There are 16 pieces in this lot the largest being 4 INCHES long and Two
>>> inches wide at its widest point/quite thick with an edged rim lots of
>>> designs. The Other pieces range from a 3 INCH piece to smaller inch
>>> squares. All are great examples of COLONIAL POTTERY FRAGS with an
>>> association to a famous SC REV WAR BATTLE. For further information AND
>>> PICTURES! please see the text by Ivor Noel Hume: "A GUIDE TO ARTIFACTS OF
>>> COLONIAL AMERICA. There are some very similar examples of this type of
>>> pottery-ALL ARE 100% GUARANTEED TO BE excavated from the stated area with
>>> owner!
>>> s permission by a noted AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGIST in the South who works the
>>> area on a DAILY basis. The Battle of Stono Ferry took place on June 20,
>>> 1779 and was a British Victory. The Fort which was built there stretched
>>> some 800 yards!Both Hessians and Highland troops took part in the Battle
>>> with the Americans being led by the famous Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln.
>>> Please ask any questions! I try to answer all e-mails promptly. I do not
>>> have picture capability or scanning so please check out my feed back
>>> forum.  SHIPPING is $3.50 on these artifacts. Thanks for
>>> looking! HAVE A SAFE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!!***** REMEMBER OUR FALLEN
>>> SOLDIERS!***********
>>>
>>> Visit eBay, The World's Online Marketplace TM at http://www.ebay.com
>>
>
>
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Dr. Alasdair Brooks
>Department of Archaeology
>La Trobe University
>Plenty Road
>Bundoora VIC 3083
>Australia
>Phone - 03 9479 3269
>E-mail - [log in to unmask]
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>"The buffalo tastes the same
>on both sides of the border"
>Sitting Bull
>
Carl Steen
Archaeologist
The Diachronic Research Foundation
PO Box 50394
Columbia, SC 29250
Web Site: http://diachronicresearch.com