Early French Ceramics 1

This is probably one of the earliest pieces of French pottery from documented contexts in Illinois. It was found during the 1950s atop Starved Rock, site of La Salle’s 1682/83 Fort St. Louis. The top of the rock, however, was also the site of a significant Peoria Indian occupation during the first decades of the eighteenth century. It is unknown which component this artifact was affiliated with, but in either case, it was probably in the ground before ca. 1720.

The artifact is a fragment of a distinctive green glazed jug (made in western France) known as “Saintonge”, from the region where such pots were produced. Potters there made these lead glazed jugs for centuries, and they were exported across western Europe, as well as the French colonies. Pictured is a non-archaeological example of a similar jug, made around 1800.

European Apothecary Pots

During our recent excavations at the third “wooden version” of Fort de Chartres (see 2/29/2012 post), we recovered a large fragment of an unusual form of salve or unguent pot. These little pots contained various types of viscous substances, usually medicinal salves, or in some cases, certain kinds of cosmetics.

Most 18^th century French colonial sites in the Illinois Country produce fragments of apothecary / pharmacy pots, but they are different than the pot found at Fort de Chartres. More common are tin glazed varieties made in France. Thus far, sites in Illinois have generally produced only small fragments of the French unguent pots, but they seem to have been short, slightly ovoid, shouldered vessels.

Fragments of 18th century apothecary pots from Cahokia, Illinois.

The pot found at the fort (from 1740s or early 1750s contexts) is a distinctive type made in the Netherlands, rather than the typical French variety. It is nearly identical to pots frequently recovered in Amsterdam from 17^th and 18^th century contexts. I believe it is the first of its kind found in Illinois, however.

Two Dutch pots:
 The Fort de Chartres specimen (left), and an example excavated in Amsterdam (right).

Sometime after 1800, French unguent or salve pots became very popular, and are frequently found in 1830s-1850s contexts in St. Louis. These pots were of a different shape than their 18^th century predecessors, with straight sides, small flaring lips, and no shoulders. They were generally coated in a bright green or bright blue tin glazes, while the 18^th century varieties may have been more often glazed in plain white.

Two French, tin glazed pots from 1840s contexts in St. Louis. 

Like many old European ceramic traditions, the French and Dutch unguent pots were replaced in the international market by British whiteware pots during the mid 19^th century.

Queenswares in St Louis Before the War of 1812

Back in 2002, the Sangamo Archaeological Center published a small summary of newspaper ads from St. Louis that advertised pottery between 1810 and 1850. I’m currently working on a paper with a colleague about ceramic use during the  American occupation of Fort Massac (1794 to 1814), and was looking at some of the War of 1812-era advertisements.

This is the earliest ad I have found for British refined ceramics in the region. It dates to January of 1809. The firm of H. Austin & Company (actually located in the old French town Ste. Genevieve, south of St. Louis) announced the arrival of a shipment of groceries and dry goods from New York, which included a “General assortment of Queens Pencil’d and Enamel’d Ware.” The reference to ceramic products was placed at the bottom of an ad focused primarily on fabrics and clothing.

 “Queensware” was a term coined by Josiah Wedgwood to refer to his creamware product lines of the 1760s and 1770s, the term was eventually used generically by potters and merchants to refer to most inexpensive British earthenwares, including post-1780 pearlware and post-1830 whiteware.

Example of painted pearlware teacup and saucer, circa 1790-1810

 “Pencilled Queens [ware]” probably referred to transfer printed pearlware or creamware, while “enameled” wares would have consisted of painted pearlware or creamware. This was fancy, fashionable stuff – fresh from the potteries at Staffordshire. And it was shipped into town by the crate when the population of St. Louis was still fewer than 400. 

The "Cahokia Courthouse"

Below are a few artifacts from the 1930s excavations at the “Cahokia Courthouse”. They didn’t make the final cut of my recent book on French domestic sites, so I thought I’d share them here.

One of the few eighteenth century vertical log buildings still standing in the village of Cahokia is known as the Cahokia Courthouse. The building was constructed around 1740 as a private residence for the Le Poincet family. In 1793, the house was purchased by the Common Pleas Court of the United States for use as a courthouse, in what was then St. Clair County of the Northwest Territory. After about 20 years as a court building, the structure was sold and converted back into a residence. 

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the 160-year-old house, damaged by flooding and showing its age, had been abandoned. In 1904, it was purchased, dismantled, and hauled across the Mississippi River to St. Louis, where it was exhibited at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. After the exposition, the old building was purchased by the Chicago Historical Society, hauled back across the river and reconstructed in Chicago’s Jackson Park. What remained of Le Poincet’s house remained in Chicago until 1939, when it was returned to Cahokia. Prior to its reconstruction, basic archaeology was conducted on the site for the State of Illinois by archaeologist Paul Maynard.

All of the ceramics in this photo predate circa 1770. “A” and “B” are fragments of Rouen-style faience platters. “B” has been drilled with a hole that once held a lead staple, used to repair a break or crack in the platter during the 1700s. “C” is a fragment of a faience plate from Provence. “D” is a tin glazed plate made in Spanish colonial Mexico, and shipped to Illinois via New Orleans. “E” is an unusual serving dish from Italy, known as “Albisola Slipped”. This would have been included in French shipments from Mediterranean ports such as Marseille. Finally, “F” is a fragment of a kitchen bowl made in western France.

An Important French Colonial Text as a Free Download.

Pease and Jenison’s 1940 volume Illinois on the Eve of the Seven Years War is available as a free download at the Internet Archive. This is an important text, and a must-have for anyone interested in the French colonial history of the Midwest. The original printing has become hard to find, but thankfully there is now a digital copy available. Better yet, it is searchable! A real resource…..
[Just click on the image above to go to the Archive page]

The Shadow of a 250-Year-Old Fort

This is why we dug where we did in 2011 (see Fort de Chartres posts February 29 and March 2). This is an aerial photo taken in 1928, which shows an unusually vivid soil stain in a cultivated field. This contrast-enhanced version clearly depicts a square enclosure with what appear to be four bastions, one on each corner. The northwest bastion is blurred by erosion. Archaeological remains of structures rarely leave behind such vivid stains – caused by changes in the organic composition of the topsoils, created by past activity. 

Umbrella Men and Archaeology

This is a little more esoteric post. It is a short film by Errol Morris called “The Umbrella Man”, posted by the New York Times. It is surprisingly relevant to archaeology, and it’s also a pleasure to watch.

Click the umbrella to watch the video.

The most obvious thing for archaeologists to take away from this is the hazard of building assumptions on top of assumptions on top of anomalies – to be careful of what kind of story one creates around that unusual artifact, for instance.

What struck me even more, however, was that the Umbrella Man represents the potential and even probable reality of seemly nonsensical factors behind any historical circumstance. Once you look too close - when you really attempt to read each detail  - probability, predictability, and indeed Occam's Razor itself may fall apart. That smoking pipe or that broken teacup can reflect a world of circumstances, histories, habits, or choices….. Or, the pipe is just a pipe and the cup is just a cup. It seems instructive, however.