An Important Salt-Glazed Stoneware Cobalt-Blue Incised Heart-Shaped Inkwell, Decorated with a Pair of Love Birds Above the Initials AM with Stylized Flowers and Leaves, New York, 1728-1765

Christie's, Fine American Furniture, Silver Folk Art and Decorative Arts, January 20, 1989, lot 499.

Small chip to rim near the lower section of letter A, approximately 1 1/2 inches on underside of rim and 1/2 inch on upper edge of rim, old composition repair to top of the heart above proper right inceised bird's head filled with composition and painted, measures about 1 1/2 in. by 1/2 in.
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A heart shaped stoneware signed by William Crolius and dated 1773 is now on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The following examination was made by Meta F. Janowitz on November 30, 2010.  Ms. Janowitz has worked for thirty years with the New York City archaeological collections.  She has focused on studying locally made stonewares, includes a field research to Germany in 2003 to visit stoneware production centers and museum collections:

The color and degree of fineness of the body paste is consistent with some sherds from the Crolius-Remmey kiln waster site at the African Burial Ground. During the excavation, more than 22,000 vessel sherds, more than 19,000 pieces of kiln furniture, and nearly 15,000 fragments of miscellaneous kiln debris were recovered from all areas of the site.

1. Most of the sherds from the Burial Ground were from utilitarian vessels (jars and jugs) with thicker, less fine-grained bodies; however some vessels, notably porringers, had fine, thin bodies, similar to the inkwell (see Meta F. Janowitz, "New York City Stonewares from the African Burial Ground," editor Robert Hunter, Ceramics in America 2008, (Milwaukee, WI: The Chipstone Foundation 2008), figs 37, 42).  The inkwell is particularly thin-walled probably because the clay was rolled out and cut rather than turned

2. Although body colors of the Burial Ground sherds varied from buff to dark gray, some had were the same color gray as the inkwell (see Janowitz, figs 36, 37).

3. Some of the design elements are similar to the designs on other Crolius or Remmey pieces; the "fan" in particular resembles the decoration on the 1811 Crane punch bowl attributed to John Crolius as well as any of a number of known Crolius pieces, for example the large jar illustrated in Janowitz, fig. 2.

4. Rows of small dots, seen around the edge of the inkwell, were also on several sherds from the kiln waster site (see Janowitz, fig. 43).

The inkwell was tested using XRF technology at Brooklyn College along with sherds from excavations at City Hall Park, which also sampled kiln waster sherds from the Crolius-Remmey potteries, and sherds from an excavation in Raeren, Germany.  Although the sample was small, it appears that there are differences in the ratios of strontium and rubidium and possibly vanadium, between the American sherds and the German sherds according to Dr. Joshua Cheng, Assistant Professor, Department of Geology, Brooklyn College, who performed the tests and analyzed the results.  Dr. Joshua Cheng who did the XRF testing stated the test results are with the Americana Department and are available on request.

In Joshua Cheng's report, he states "2. Rb/Sr ratio still remains probably a good indicator. The inkwell has Rb/Sr ratio 1.03-1.24, very similar to the "Morgan". The "15768" is a bit more variable in Rb/Sr ratio" 

The kiln wasters and kiln furniture excavated at the African Burial Ground date ca. 1728-1765.  This date is based on two factors: the history of the use of the land and the few datable artifacts found with the kiln ceramics.  The full report of the excavations is available on line at: http://www.africanburialground.gov/ABG_FinalReports.htm.

Appendix F of the Final Report concerns the stonewares.  A summary of the information about the stonewares is also available in Meta F. Janowitz, "New York City Stonewares from the African Burial Ground," editor Robert Hunter, Ceramics in America 2008, (Milwaukee, WI: The Chipstone Foundation 2008)

In my opinion, based on the XRF testing, my research about the Crolius and Remmey potters, and empirical comparisons to the kiln waster sherds excavated at the African Burial Ground and City Hall Park archaeological sites, it is likely that the inkwell was made in New York City by one or more of the Crolius/Remmey potters.

Meta Janowitz, December 2010