North Devon
Defining Attributes
A lead glazed coarse earthenware with a reddish pink to orange paste that has a gray core. The lead glaze ranges in color from green to yellow to brown. Temper defines the different types. ftn1 North Devon gravel-tempered is characterized by its gravel temper, while North Devon gravel-free (also known as North Devon smooth or North Devon plain) lacks the gravel temper and is often found in the form of tall (baluster) jars.
Chronology
North Devon coarse earthenwares wares are commonly found on mid to late 17th- and early 18th-century sites in the Chesapeake region.
 North Devon gravel-free wares show up early on Chesapeake region sites. A baluster form or tall jar has been found in pre-1635 contexts from sites in Maine and Virginia (Faulkner and Faulkner 1987:204) and at the Ferryland site in Newfoundland. A few sherds of North Devon gravel-free or fine gravel-tempered have been recovered from the Old Chapel Field site (18ST233), a 1637 – 1650 plantation at St. Inigoes, Maryland (Sperling and Galke 2001). Sometimes gravel-free vessels were made with gravel-tempered handles, since the gravel temper was believed to impart strength to the clay (Grant 1983:54). Gravel-tempered handles have been observed on sgraffito mugs and jugs in the May-Hartwell collection from Jamestown, Virginia (Outlaw 2002).
North Devon gravel-tempered
 North Devon gravel-tempered ware was manufactured from ca. 1600 into the 19th century, and became available in the Chesapeake by ca.1650. According to Noël Hume (1970:133), North Devon gravel-tempered ware did not become common until the last quarter of the 17th century. Its presence on archaeological sites in the Chesapeake region generally indicates a fourth quarter of the 17th century to first quarter 18th-century occupation. The North Devon utilitarian wares were replaced by the Buckley-type earthenware, as that ware became more available through changing trade networks in the 18th century.
Description
Fabric
Coarse earthenware body with a pink or reddish to orange colored paste with a gray core resulting from reduced oxygen during firing. The paste is well mixed with a fine, smooth texture and contains very fine sand particles. The coarse, angular gravel added to the North Devon gravel-tempered paste ranges up to 12 mm in diameter, and imparts an obvious rough texture to the ware when it protrudes on the surface. The gravel temper makes up 15 – 25 % of the paste, and up to 30 % in the baking oven vessel form (Watkins 1960:48).
Glaze
Thin lead glaze that ranges in color from yellow to green to light brown. While most vessels are glazed on just the interior, storage jars are frequently glazed on both exterior and interior surfaces.
Decoration
North Devon gravel-free and gravel-tempered wares are generally undecorated. Incised lines were occasionally added to the exterior of tankards, pitchers, and cooking pots.
Form
Wheel-thrown utilitarian wares, such as milk pans and butter pots are most frequently found on archaeological sites. Other forms included pipkins, chafing dishes and storage jars. Rectangular pans and baking ovens were made from molded slabs. These ovens, made from the gravel-tempered body, were shipped to Maryland and Virginia (Grant 1983:120), and have been found at several sites in the Chesapeake region (Watkins 1960).
Table 1 was adapted from Alison Grant’s Appendix A (1983) and lists the most commonly found North Devon coarse earthenware vessel forms and physical traits generally associated with each. Please note that the dish vessel form is usually slipped and decorated with sgraffito motifs. This type of ceramic is discussed in a separate section of the Diagnostic Artifacts of Maryland webpage, but is included here since it is possible that a non-slipped and undecorated vessel may be found.
Table 1. North Devon Coarse Earthenware Physical Attributes
| Vessel form |
Gravel Temper |
Gravel-free Temper |
Slipped Interior |
Slipped Exterior |
Decoration |
| Jugs |
|
usually |
|
sometimes |
sometimes (if decorated, usually
sgraffito and sometimes trailed slip |
| Bowls (pans, pancheons, basins) |
usually (large vessels) |
usually (small vessels) |
sometimes |
|
exceptionally (if decorated, usually sgraffito) |
| Pipkins |
usually |
|
|
|
|
| Porringers |
|
usually |
usually |
sometimes |
sometimes (if decorated,
usually sgraffito) |
| Chafing dishes |
usually |
|
|
sometimes |
sometimes (if decorated, usually sgraffito) |
| Chamber Pots |
|
usually |
sometimes |
sometimes |
sometimes (if decorated, usually sgraffito and sometimes trailed slip |
| Tankards (mugs) |
|
usually |
|
sometimes |
sometimes (if decorated, usually sgraffito and sometimes trailed slip |
| Tall Jars (baluster jars) |
usually (large vessels) |
usually (small vessels) |
|
|
|
| Jars (crocks, steans, storage jars) |
usually (large vessels) |
usually (small vessels) |
|
|
|
| Cups |
|
usually |
usually |
sometimes |
sometimes (if decorated, usually sgraffito and sometimes trailed slip) |
| Baking dishes |
usually |
|
|
|
|
| Dishes (platters, plates, chargers) |
|
usually |
usually |
|
usually (if decorated, usually sgraffito) |
______________________
footnote
ftn1 Sgraffito slip decorated wares made in North Devon are included with the category Southwest of England Slip Decorated Earthenwares.
References
Faulkner
and Faulkner 1987; Grant
1983; Noël Hume 1970; Outlaw 2002; Sperling
and Galke 2001; Watkins
1960.
Notes
North Devon wares, manufactured throughout the 17th century, are distinctly identifiable. The extensive trade networks established by Bideford and Barnstaple merchants made this ware the most common utilitarian and dining wares in many areas of England, Ireland, the Chesapeake region, New England, and the Caribbean (Grant 1983). The utilitarian forms of this ware dominate many late 17th century sites, with North Devon gravel-tempered making up as much as 45% of some assemblages.
|
Click for all thumbnails
.jpg){kind=small}
