Transfer Print Refined Earthenware Sherd (Archaeological Find)
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Title:
Transfer Print Refined Earthenware Sherd
Subject:
Although small in size, this ceramic sherd is larger in meaning. Namely, it is the feature of mulberry transfer print that makes this sherd both intriguing and identifiable. The design motif on the sherd is difficult to distinguish. Because the design is not immediately apparent, focusing on the colors of the transfer print becomes more important. Refined earthenware ceramics like this sherd were often decorated with transfer print. However, blue and white, or blue on white, is vastly preferred as it mimics finer porcelain. By the mid 1800s, there were a myriad of other colors, such as green and shades of purple, that came to decorate ceramic wares. Cross referencing the production of green and mulberry, ceramics with both of these colors can be dated to the latter half of the 1830s until the 1850s (Maryland Diagnostics). Finding potential dates for this sherd is important to relate back to the stratigraphy of the unit where this was found. Ranging from 30 to 50 centimeters deep, the location where this sherd was discovered is consistent with other 19th century artifacts.
As this sherd exists in relative isolation from its completed vessel, cross analyzing motif and color becomes incredibly important. Based on color, the potential objects that this sherd could be vary. Even the most unsightly of objects had elements of ornamentation. Chamber pots are decorated with mulberry, making the act of the chamber pot a little more civil. Ornamenting these objects creates class associations and suggestions about who gets to use them. Mulberry also appeared on objects that are associated with dinner rather than the process afterwards. Dessert plates, salad plates, serving ware, mulberry color transfer print adorns a myriad of different objects. Consistently with mulberry designs, there is the presence of a vignette around a central image. Perhaps this sherd assisted in that element of design. Although the exact object from which this sherd comes from is not certain, the sherd gives great insight into how social class is stratified through material objects. Whether this mulberry piece decorated a plate or a privy, it tells us great details about Harvard life in the mid 1800s.
Source:
Hume, Ivor Noël. 1969. A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. New York: Knopf
Dessert Plate N.d.Historic New England. https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/7449, accessed April 11, 2024.
Mulberry Ware, Ceramics N.d.Mulberry Ware, Ceramics - Guide to Value, Marks, History | WorthPoint Dictionary.
https://www.worthpoint.com/dictionary/p/ceramics/uk-patterns/mulberry-ware-ceramics.
Rim of Ironstone Chamber Pot, Purple Transfer-Printed N.d.Collections. https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/594879?ctx=357bb44ae680b23a36a73228d070c8a083071605&idx=538.
Salad Plate N.d.Historic New England.
https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/gusn/15903.
Transfer Print Ceramics Maryland N.d.Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland. https://apps.jefpat.maryland.gov/diagnostic/Post-Colonial%20Ceramics/Printed%20Earthenwares/index-PrintedEarthenwares.htm#Clobbering.
Object Name:
Transfer Print Refined Earthenware Vessel Fragment
Inventory Description:
purple and green transfer print decorated, refined earthenware fragment from an unidentified vessel
Peabody Number:
2023.11.52
Intrasite:
Unit H980 Level 4
Depth:
34 - 50 cm
Class 1:
Ceramic
Class 2:
Earthenware
Class 3:
Refined
Quantity:
1
Height (cm):
2.3 cm
Width (cm):
0.7 cm
Depth/Thickness (cm):
0.5 cm
Notes:
unidentifiable print motif