BowlMade in Upper Salford Township, Montgomery County,
Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America
Attributed to John Nice, American, died 1906 Red earthenware
with slip decoration and lead glaze 1895-74Gift of Edwin Atlee
Barber, 1895 This bowl was made from high-quality clay found
under the wet topsoil of Pennsylvania's low-lying plains.
Southeastern Pennsylvania's terrain could support farms on the
topsoil and potteries on the subsoil, so by 1810 potteries could
be found in almost every township in Buck's County. The work of
the potter fit into the agricultural calendar. The clay was dug
in the fall: topsoil was cleared and a foot-deep layer of clay
was sliced and shoveled into a wagon, hauled to the pottery, and
stacked. Before freezing weather, the clay was carried in
baskets and dumped into a mill - a round tub with a revolving
post set with blades. A horse harnessed to a sweep walked slowly
around the tub, turning the blades. Water was flushed through to
clean the clay and the resulting mass