Henry and Peter discuss recent digs at the site of the James Williams Depot Pottery - one at a privy next to the pottery and another directly in front of the pottery. Dozens of shards and one intact flower pot was recovered. Some of the forms identified include jugs, crocks, jars, milk pans, flower pots, and mixing bowl. Some pieces were found that were decorated and some were undecorated but most had the typical orange or yellow lead glaze. However there were a couple of surprises including a footed jar with a slate grey glaze. It appears that this pottery used the fern leaf motif.
Over a dozen shards were found on the surface at the site of the Milz/Ohnhaus pottery with permission of the owner. These piece showed great diversity of glaze used. One piece was decorated but unfortunately did not have enough to identify the flower. More shards will be needed from this site.
Coincidentally on the morning of the presentation the owner of a house on the site of Whitewater's first pottery at North and Freemont emailed photos of two shards just discovered there.
There were four potteries that operated in Whitewater between 1845 and 1872 and virtually none were marked, making it impossible to attribute know pieces to a particular producer. These shards are a first step in doing so. Many more shards need to be collected, photographed and studied and it is hoped that eventually a clearer picture of the types of wares produced by each pottery will emerge.