Mary--
I have forwarded your email to Linda Carnes McNaughton, who has excavated several kiln sites in NC and is probably
the expert in this area. Her dissertaion would be particularly valuable.
You might want to look at Sarah Peabody Turnbaugh's "Domestic Pottery of the NE US" Academic Press 1985.
For information on glazes check out Daniel Rhodes' "Clay and Glazes for the Potter" Chilton Press, 1957.
Red lead, known to potters as Litharge, was used for thousands of years, but was not as popular as white lead
because of its coarser particle size....
White slip is very common on pottery made in the German tradition, so obviously it WAS obtainable.
Good Luck and keep us informed.....
Carl Steen
8/2/2001 10:17:52 PM, Mary Jane Shaw <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>I have excavated a late 18th century and possibly early 19th century
>Pennsylvania German pottery site in southwestern Pennsylvania. Am
>currently writing the site report. It was, unfortunately, a salvage
>dig. Represented on the site were basic utilitarian redware vessels,
>glazed on the interior, a small amount of vessels with glazing on the
>interior and exterior, a very small quantity of slip-decorated redware
>and one experimental, decorative piece. No salt glazing is evidenced.
> I am seeking information on the types of glazes used, as well as their
>sources. Lead would have been easily obtainable, but what really is red
>lead? Could the potter have obtained white clay? Many pieces exhibit a
>thin white coating, but no engraving or other applied decoration. I have
>basic general knowledge of potting and glazing, and have consulted Edwin
>Atlee Barber's book regarding Pennsylvania German potters, among others.
>Additionally, I am seeking information about a hard-fired, thin, not
>glazed, redware that I do not think was manufactured here. It may have
>been of English origin. I have read where England did export basic
>redware in this time period. It may have been made in eastern PA by an
>English potter.
> I welcome all comments and input/direction.
>
Carl Steen
Archaeologist
Diachronic Research Foundation
PO Box 50394
Columbia SC 29250
http://diachronicresearch.com
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