5 CM. 

 2 IN. 



Figure 31. — Pedestal bases of small chafing dishes or standing salts. Top, 

 exterior and interior of one sherd; bottom, exterior and top view of another 

 sherd. Colonial National Historical Park. {From Smithsonian photos 43oj()- 



The only unquestionable evidence of how these 

 ovens were used remains in the Bowne House, where 

 the oven is built into the fireplace back. Originally, 

 the oven protruded outdoors from the back of the 

 chimney."' 



Conclusions 



Archeological, documentary, and literary evidences 

 indicate that yellow sgraffito ware, gravel-tempered 

 earthenware utensils, and gravel-tempered pottery 

 ovens were made in several potteries in and around 

 Barnstaple and Bideford in North Devon. Clay 

 from the Fremington clay beds was used. 



The North Devon potteries manufactured for ex- 

 port, sending their wares to Ireland as early as 1600 

 and to America by 1635. The trade was particularly 

 heavy in the years following the Stuart Restoration 

 and was tied to the influential 17th-century West- 

 of-England commerce with America. New England, 



" Bowne House; A Shrine to Religions Freedom, Flushing, New 

 York. Pamphlet of The Bowne House Historical Society, 

 Flushing, N.Y., n.d. 



Maryland, and \'irginia received many shipments 

 of North Devon pottery, an entire cargo of it having 

 been delivered in Boston in 1688. 



Sgraffito ware found in colonial sites in Virginia 

 and Maryland is from a common source. The style 

 of decoration is unique to English pottery and reflects 

 Continental elements of design. It is reminiscent 

 of decoration found on English and colonial New 

 England furniture and embroideries. The only 

 counterparts of this ware — matching it in style, paste 

 color, and technique — are found among 17th-century 

 sherds exca\ated from the sites of two potteries in 

 Barnstaple. The 18th-century and 19th-century 

 North Devon sgraffito ware surviving above ground 

 differs considerably in style and form but in other 

 respects it is the same as the ware found archeo- 

 logically in Virginia and Maryland. The stylistic 

 differences, noticeable on a piece in the Glaishcr 

 collection dated as early as 1704 (in which traces of 

 the earlier style remain), were introduced by the 

 turn of the century, thus strengthening the conclusion 

 that the sgraffito tablewares found archcologically in 

 this country must date from before 1700. 



PAPER 13: NORTH DEVON POTTERY IN 17TH-CENTURY .AMERICA 



53 



