Cobalt Script Decoration Likely Made in Philadelphia
The Jamestown Club, a men’s only social club, merged with the Conanicut Yacht Club in the early 20th century
Three-handled stoneware mug decorated on three sides in cobalt script, reading “Founders Town D.B. Birney June XXV July XV,” “Kup Klub W.C. Watson 1890 1892,” and “For Jim W.F. Donaldson E.F. Davis Jamestown.”
The mug is also decorated on the exterior with a Bristol slip glaze, while the interior is decorated in a brown slip glaze; Bristol slip combined with this type of interior glaze were produced at the Thomas Haig Jr. Pottery and the Remmey Pottery in Philadelphia.
Dr. David Bell Birney II (1862-1906) died in Philadelphia; he was the son of David Bell Birney (1825-1864), who was born In Huntsville Alabama, son of abolitionist James G Birney. The Birney family moved to Kentucky in 1833 and freed their slaves, then moved to Cincinnati, Michigan, and finally Philadelphia. Birney graduated from Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1856. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, Birney benefitted from his political connections and served different leadership roles in the Union Army. Unrelated to the war, Birney’s health began to deteriorate in the summer of 1864, and he died on October 18th of that year.
Dr. William Francis Donaldson (1838-1914) Coal merchant; died in Philadelphia.
William C. Watson (1840-1906) died in Philadelphia
Edward F. Davis – there were multiple men of this name in Philadelphia during this period, including a successful businessman and another who was a medical doctor.
Furthermore, Birney, Donaldson and Watson were all successful men in Philadelphia, who vacationed in Rhode Island; they formed the Jamestown Club in Jamestown, Rhode Island on June 21, 1890. It was a men’s social club that later merged with the Conanicut Yacht Club in Jamestown in the early twentieth century. This mug was likely a commissioned piece made at one of the Philadelphia stoneware businesses in the early 1890’ s and is perhaps a unique object today; the style of the exterior and interior glaze closely matches some objects produced at the Thomas Haig Jr. Pottery.
Item Date: 1890's
Measurement: Height: 7.25"
Material: Stoneware
Item Condition: Very good condition
Price: $3,850
SKU 1500-15
For More Information, Please Contact David Hillier at 978-597-8084 or email drh@aaawt.com.
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