A HEARTBREAKING PRIVY DIG NIGHTMARE

[baltbottles]

Doug,

Thats a really cool piece of slipware. Where did you dig it and about what age was the pit you found it in? Do you have anymore you could post pictures of. I've been studying early american ceramics lately.

Chris

 

[CALDIGR2]

We call the use layer "fluff" because of the consistency. Paydirt works, too, as long as it does. Fluff is usually under the layer of limeacide.

 

[PhilaBottles]

lime killed the smell


LOAMLOAMLOAMLOAMLOLOLALMOLOMAOOLAMOLMAO

 

[appliedlips]

Chris,

Your right,that redware bowl would have been killer,I did not end up with all the peices but I have quite a bit of it and will post some pics soon.I dug it here in Ohio from a privy that dated roughly 1830-45,definately filled by 1850.We see very little decorated redware here but lots of utilitarian peices.I wish we seen more of it,as it is beautiful.I have been trying to do a better job of keeping shards of the better ceramics lately,but always end up missing alot.I guess I need to slow down.I have seen some of the nice bowls and cups you have put back together and it seems to be well worth the effort.Good luck digging,Doug

 

[baltbottles]

Caldigr2,

It must be nice to dig dry privies with a nice fluffy layer. Our water table is so high it can be the middle of a drout here and the privies are still wet. Its rare to get one with a dry layer but when you do its nice.

Chris

 

[baltbottles]

Doug,

That redware looks like it was probably made in Pa or Md and its very early I think its more 1800-1820ish it must have been old when it was thrown away. I have seen similar pieces attributed to both Pa and Hagerstown Maryland. But I totally agree with you thats its well worth saving the shards for early privies. What we usually do is as soon as we start seeing decorated ceramics we just start picking out all the shards of everything. and putting them in buckets its pretty common to end up with 6 or 8 buckets of shards from a large early pit. I realized that its better to just take everyting home and give it a second look then put anything back in the ground. I mean once i get the stuff home If its junk i just throw it away. But I usually get a couple nice things to glue back. We dug 3 pits saturday with one being 1830s-40s the only intact bottle in it was a 12 sided pontiled puff. but i managed to find 97 percent of the pieces to a great redware chamber pot it only has a few small holes on one side now. I'll probably get this one restored. I really wish the pits here were dry rater then wet so i could sift them as we dig I'm sure i would have found those little pieces i missed.

Chris

 

[GuntherHess]

Chris , what do you make of this piece. The back is unglazed. it seems to be a shallow bowl.

 

[baltbottles]

Matt,

Thats a great slipware piece. From the curvature of the rim I would think it was a "pie plate" or small charger. The coggled rim is very typical of these. As for the decoration. It's an interesting one. The individually slip-trailed lines are less common then ones done with slip cups with multiple quills usually in groups of 2,3,5,or 7 lines. Being each line was done individually it would have taken longer to decorate. So its not as often seen on plates with alot of slip. As for age I would say its an early plate circa 1790-1820. Where it was made I'm not sure the color of the glaze looks a bit over fired. And the color of the clay looks a bit dark to be Baltimore but that could also be due to the over firing Can you post some pictures of the edge of a couple pieces and of the back and where did you find it. As that also helps.

Chris

 

[GuntherHess]

It came from some house sites that were getting bulldozed in Dumfries VA. The artifacts seemed to range from mid to late 18th century. This was a Scottish settlement but I thought this peice might have been local.

Here is a wine glass stem fragment that also came from the site. It has amazing double air (or opaque) twists. I heard these can be dated fairly precisely becaue the different styles were in fad for a few years at a time.

The whole glass probably looked something like ...
http://www.tennants.co.uk/BidCat/detail.asp?SaleRef=LS139&LotRef=4

 

[epgorge]

GuntherHess,

That is absolutely beautiful. Amazing craftsmanship.

Joel