Figure 17. — A pair of brown lead-glazed local earthenware funnels, paralleled by a fragment fiom York- 

 town, discarded in the mid- 18th century. Found in Williamsburg. Rim diameters: left, 18.25 centimeters; 

 right, 18.42 centimeters. 



relics of the Yorktown factory. Following the "26 

 doz. q' Mugs £5.4.," a value of 4d. per mug, we find 

 "fill doz p 1 D" 7.10." s3 A stock of 60 dozen would be 

 reasonable because, as Mr. Maloney has stated, a good 

 potter can throw approximately 12 dozen a day. 



Before leaving the evidence of the inventory it should 

 be noted that the vessels which we usually term 

 storage jars are probably synonymous with Rogers' 

 "9 large Cream Potts 4 6"; but where are the large 

 stone bottles? The "4 doz small stone bottles 6, " were 

 likely to have been of quart capacity. We can only 

 suppose that the large bottles were not included in the 

 batches fired just before Rogers died and that, con- 

 sequently, he had none in stock. 



The Earthenwares 



Besides the stonewares, the inventory includes the 

 following items of earthenware: 



1 1 doz Milk pans £2.4 

 9 Midle Sized D° 3/ 



2 doz red Saucepans 4/ 

 6 Chamber potts 2/ 



3 doz Lamps 9/ 



4 doz small dishes 8/ 



9 large Cream potts 4/6 



12 Small D" 2/ 



2 doz porringers 4 



4 doz bird bottles 12 



4 doz small stone bottles 6/ 



6 doz priding pans 2 



This listing might be read to indicate that the York- 

 town factory produced considerably less earthenware 

 than stoneware, a construction that could be supported 

 by the earlier inventory reference to "a pel crakt 

 redware" with a value of only £2 as against the 

 £5 worth of "crackt" stoneware. We may wonder 

 whether a ratio of 40 to 60 percent may not be a 

 reasonable guide to the proportionate output of 

 coarseware and stoneware, although it must be 

 admitted that we do not know the relative sizes of the 

 two parcels of cracked wares. It must be added also 

 that, besides the inventory, the only extant direct 

 documentary reference to the Rogers' factory products 

 (1745) is to earthenware, not stoneware. Further- 

 more, we know that 20 years earlier he had sold a 

 considerable quantity of earthenware to John Mercer 

 of Marlborough. 



Prior to the discovery of the Yorktown evidence we 

 had known of no stoneware manufacturing in Tide- 

 water Virginia in the 18th century, but archeological 

 evidence had revealed the presence of earthenware 

 kilns in the 17th century, with the possibility of two 

 or three operating at much the same time." It can 

 easily be argued that there would have been more m 

 the 18th century, though no kiln sites have vet been 



f3 See Watkins. Part I, footnote '>'- 



n ( >p , it (f lote 72), pi' 208 220 



PAPER 54: THE POOR POTTER OF YORKTOWN 



103 



