Refined Collared Jars (1825-1850) Connecticut & New York

This period represents the final evolution and more or less the end of the early ceramic oyster jars in Manhattan. Later forms were produced, but these were used for a number of other foods and therefore cannot be specifically identified with pickled oysters per se.

The most distinctive characteristic of this final phase of the early New York oyster jars is the pronounced raised collar that provides a better seat for the cork or wooden stopper used to seal the jars.

Although this type was made by at least three New York potters including Crolius, W. Smith and one, as of yet unidentified pottery, evidence points to Norwalk, CT as the origin of this form. Indeed, the largest group of surviving jars, made for the black oysterman Thomas Downing of #5 Broad Street in Manhattan, were produced in Norwalk based on a distinctive set of fonts used to mark the jars.

The Connecticut origins are further supported by the writings of Lura Woodside Watkins’, Early New England Potteries and Their Wares, published in 1950. In the chapter on Norwalk, CT she writes: “the oyster jars differ from the fruit jars in having a sharp rather than rounded shoulder.” Examples of the two forms of production from this pottery (albeit produced during the later years of production based on the Albany slip glazed exterior) can be seen below. Both jars were found in antique shops in upstate New York and there is no reason not to believe that they may have been produced at the same time given the somewhat unique, almost black, glaze color. In fact, these may have been fired in the same kiln batch.

The first jars to appear from this group were salt glazed examples of a tan to cream colored body and produced at Norwalk. Most surviving Thomas Downing’s jars are glaze in this way and most have cobalt blue wash in the stamp. Later examples, both from Norwalk and NYC potters were overall glazed with Albany slip in colors ranging from a deep orange to a dark brown. I believe that the orange or lighter color represent earlier examples, but these variations in color might be down to varying conditions (oxidation and reduction) in the kiln during firing.

Based on my observations there are approximately 10 Downing jars in existence in public and private collections. Most of these are the salt glazed type with the cobalt wash over the imprint. They appear to have come in two sizes with the more common size being approximately 1.5pints and approximately 6.5” tall. At least four example of a larger, maybe quart-sized, jar survive, including two made for Downing and the other two, in my collection, unmarked and Albany slip glazed.

In my collection I have the only known example of a jar made for Henry Scott, another black oysterman, eventually turned pickler and grocer, with a dark brown Albany slip glaze and the distinctive font identifying this jars as the production of Norwalk, CT. This jar was found in upstate New York.