Stoneware of eastern Virginia

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Another group of wares made by Schermerhorn is defined by a recently discovered vessel that has an incised profile of a man and the incised lettering "JOHN P." across the man's collar (see Pl. XIV). Related examples devoid of incised decoration have on both sides a cobalt blue number indicating the capacity, often underscored by two or three horizontal lines of decreasing length with a terminal squiggle or initial that some have interpreted as either j or s and, hence, the maker's signature. This second group of wares is generally characterized by thinner walled and more elongated ovoid forms with the potter's turning marks often visible on the exterior, somewhat smaller handles usually devoid of cobalt blue decoration, and made of medium to dark gray clay. Vessels have been found with marked capacities of one, one and one-half, two, three, four, and five gallons. Another significant example (in a private collection) is a three-gallon vessel with the brushed cobalt blue date "1837" on one side and "3" on the other underscored by a horizontal line and what may be a j beneath with cobalt blue highlights also at the terminations of the applied extruded crescent shaped handles. (13)

David Parr Jr. (w. in Virginia 1850-1870) established a pottery in Richmond around 1850. George N. Fulton was affiliated with the business from as early as 1855 until 1862, when he joined the Union army. He later established his own pottery in the western part of the state. (14) By 1860 Parr was in partnership in the city at the corner of Twelfth and Cary Streets with Thomas W. Keesee (w. 1860-1865), who ran an auction concern at the same location. The Richmond city directory of 1860 identifies a Keesee and Parr earthenware manufactory at this location, and several extant wares produced during this period are stamped "KEESEE & PARR RICHMOND, VA." A pottery business under the same names, perhaps a warehouse or retail outlet, was located at "Front lower end Rocketts," according to the same directory. Although it is thought that the duration of their partnership was limited, probably ending in 1865, there is evidence that Parr's operation was revived in 1866 in association with his sons and continued until 1870. (15)

Perhaps the most significant vessel produced at the Parr pottery is a twenty-gallon salt-glazed stoneware cooler (Pls. XV) decorated with an incised American eagle, an incised meandering vine, and various inscriptions. The reverse of the vessel bears brushed cobalt blue floral decoration at the shoulder and a continuation of the flowers that appear on the front.

Several elusive, and in some cases unidentified, potters or pottery schools are known to have operated in Richmond and Henrico County to the southeast along the James River as early as 1816. Based on the identification of extant wares that share distinctive attributes of shape, decoration, and regional provenance, four distinct groups have been tentatively defined.