Manganese-Mottled Earthenware Sherd (Archaeological Find)

Manganese-Mottled Earthenware Sherd

In a quiet town in the West Midlands of England in the late 1600s, a potter spins a wheel of clay. Amidst the bustling factory, he hones in on his trademark speciality, a manganese-mottled tankard. The finished product has a smooth rim, with dark purplish brown flecks and streaks of manganese (Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum 2008). Accompanied by a caramel brown lead glaze, this tankard’s elegance is found in its simplicity.
These black mugs and tankards gained popularity beginning in the 17th century (Hume 2006). Many manganese-mottled tankards journeyed from the potter’s wheel in the West Midlands to colonial towns such as Charlestown. For these young colonies, taverns were centers of community life and it is likely that a manganese-mottled tankard would have found its way there. As songs played in the background, citizens could often be found socializing over tankards of beers and smoking pipes.
The Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown and the Goody Bradish Tavern right next to Harvard were familiar spots for many a Harvard man (Morrison 1936). The Puritan leaders of the time attempted to control drinking and smoking by outlawing them from the Harvard campus. In fact, both drinking and smoking were explicitly outlawed in the College Book of Laws (College Book 1636). When students wanted a drink, many would come to these taverns. Today, we have some records that depict what taverns in the 17th century were like. For example, Dutch painter David Teniers has manifested the frivolity and light-heartedness of taverns in his painting “Smokers and Drinkers” (Teniers 1660). These taverns were the precise antithesis of the stern and austere Harvard institution of the time.
Manganese-mottled earthenware was eventually made in the colonies, and by the 18th century, it had become much more ubiquitous. Students at the College brought their own vessels to use, and their vessel of choice often corresponded with their socioeconomic status. Manganese-mottled earthenware speaks to both the traditional table at Harvard, which was defined by scheduled meal times and socioeconomic hierarchy, and it also speaks to the other, more licentious Harvard experience that took place in taverns. Today, it is likely that sherds of manganese-mottled earthenware are located below our feet in Harvard Yard. Perhaps some originated from the West Midlands and perhaps some traces back to the Three Cranes Tavern; however, it is clear that no matter the origin, this ceramic sheds light on life in the 17th and 18th centuries at Harvard.

“After David Teniers the Younger | Peasant Seated, Smoking and Drinking, to the Left of a Table | The Met.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum. Accessed April 4, 2019. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/376343.

“Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland.” Accessed April 4, 2019. http://www.jefpat.org/diagnostic/colonialceramics/Colonial%20Ware%20Descriptions/ManganeseMottled.html.

Harvard University. Corporation. College Book 1, 1636-1795. UAI 5.5, Accessed April 1st, 2019. Harvard University Archives.

Hume, Ivor Noel. A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania, 2001. Accessed April 1st, 2019. Print.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. Harvard College in the Seventeenth Century. Accessed April 1st, 2019. Harvard university press, 1936.

Manganese-Mottled Earthenware Sherd

In a quiet town in the West Midlands of England in the late 1600s, a potter spins a wheel of clay. Amidst the bustling factory, he hones in on his trademark speciality, a manganese-mottled tankard. The finished product has a smooth rim, with dark purplish brown flecks and streaks of manganese (Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum 2008). Accompanied by a caramel brown lead glaze, this tankard’s elegance is found in its simplicity.
These black mugs and tankards gained popularity beginning in the 17th century (Hume 2006). Many manganese-mottled tankards journeyed from the potter’s wheel in the West Midlands to colonial towns such as Charlestown. For these young colonies, taverns were centers of community life and it is likely that a manganese-mottled tankard would have found its way there. As songs played in the background, citizens could often be found socializing over tankards of beers and smoking pipes.
The Three Cranes Tavern in Charlestown and the Goody Bradish Tavern right next to Harvard were familiar spots for many a Harvard man (Morrison 1936). The Puritan leaders of the time attempted to control drinking and smoking by outlawing them from the Harvard campus. In fact, both drinking and smoking were explicitly outlawed in the College Book of Laws (College Book 1636). When students wanted a drink, many would come to these taverns. Today, we have some records that depict what taverns in the 17th century were like. For example, Dutch painter David Teniers has manifested the frivolity and light-heartedness of taverns in his painting “Smokers and Drinkers” (Teniers 1660). These taverns were the precise antithesis of the stern and austere Harvard institution of the time.
Manganese-mottled earthenware was eventually made in the colonies, and by the 18th century, it had become much more ubiquitous. Students at the College brought their own vessels to use, and their vessel of choice often corresponded with their socioeconomic status. Manganese-mottled earthenware speaks to both the traditional table at Harvard, which was defined by scheduled meal times and socioeconomic hierarchy, and it also speaks to the other, more licentious Harvard experience that took place in taverns. Today, it is likely that sherds of manganese-mottled earthenware are located below our feet in Harvard Yard. Perhaps some originated from the West Midlands and perhaps some traces back to the Three Cranes Tavern; however, it is clear that no matter the origin, this ceramic sheds light on life in the 17th and 18th centuries at Harvard.

2018.24.476

H957 Level 3

70-80 cm

Ceramic

Earthenware

1

3.1

0.9

0.4