Courtesy Photo | A salt-glazed stoneware sherd from an ink bottle found in an archaeological dig at...... read more read more
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Archaeologists are all too familiar with finding bits and pieces of an artifact, and then having to put the pieces together to tell their story.
Although, every now and then a whole bottle or plate may be recovered from post-European contact archaeological sites which makes things a little easier for the archaeologists to research the artifact and discover the who, what, where, when, why, and how.
In the case of the artifact discussed here, archaeologists recovered a sherd (a broken piece of ceramic) of salt-glazed stoneware pottery from a farmstead located within the currently defined boundaries of Fort McCoy.
Salt-glaze is a ceramic vessel finishing technique which involves throwing common salt into a kiln at its hottest temperature while firing a stoneware vessel. This technique results in a shiny brown coating and produces a vitreous or non-porous container suitable for holding liquids.
An impression or mark on the salt-glazed stoneware sherd recovered by Fort McCoy archaeologists in 2000 contained a very useful clue in answering the questions of who, what, where, and when.
Although the mark is not complete, there was enough information on the sherd to research and discover the full extent of the impression.
The complete imprint on the salt-glazed stoneware sherd reads as follows:
Vitreous Stone Bottles,
J. Bourne & Son,
Patentees,
Denby Pottery,
Near Derby.
------------------------------
P. & J. Arnold,
London.
The mark provides information for two companies; one for Denby Pottery, and the other for P. & J. Arnold.
The Denby Pottery Company is located in Denby, Derbyshire, England and was founded in 1809 and is still producing stoneware pottery to this day.
The P. & J. Arnold Company refers to the business whose goods were placed in the stoneware bottle to sell. With a little research, it was discovered that the P. & J. Arnold Company out of London produced ink, and was established in 1724.
The Denby Pottery Company produced large quantities of the vitreous stone bottles for the P. & J. Arnold Company in the mid-1800s. By the mid-19th century, the P. & J. Arnold Company was importing their ink to the United States.
The ‘J. Bourne & Son’ marking on the sherd provides another clue as to when the stoneware bottle was made. Joseph Bourne and his son, Joseph Harvey Bourne, created a partnership in 1850 with the company name of ‘Joseph & Son’ lasting until 1916 when they began using the mark of ‘Joseph & Son Ltd’ from 1916 through 1970. So, with the information obtained, the bottle dates to somewhere between 1850 and 1916.
The salt-glazed stoneware sherd recovered from a farmstead by archaeologists at Fort McCoy came from a cylindrical master, or bulk, ink bottle. The stoneware bottle was manufactured sometime between 1850 and 1916 by J. Bourne & Son of the Denby Pottery Company and contained ink produced by the P. & J. Arnold Company, both out of England.
Master ink bottles were commonly found at schools or offices in the mid-19th century into the early 20th century, and were primarily used to fill inkwells. Master ink bottles ranged in size from 5 to 9 inches tall. This style of master ink bottles was commonly used from the 1850s to 1880s.
As stated previously, master ink bottles were commonly recovered from school or office type settings but this archaeological site was indeed a farmstead.
Although the artifact came from a farmstead, research into the family tree of the owners revealed that their daughter was a teacher while living at the family farm. The daughter, one of four children, was listed as a teacher in the 1910 census. It cannot be said with certainty that this master ink bottle belonged to her, but it is a possibility.
Writing with ink and paper was the primary means of communication back then and was also used for documenting day to day living, so it very well could have belonged to the family and been used to fill smaller ink bottles used for writing.
All archaeological work conducted at Fort McCoy was sponsored by the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.
Visitors and employees are reminded they should not collect artifacts on Fort McCoy or other government lands and leave the digging to the professionals.
Any individual who excavates, removes, damages, or otherwise alters or defaces any post-contact or pre-contact site, artifact, or object of antiquity on Fort McCoy is in violation of federal law.
The discovery of any archaeological artifact should be reported to the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.
(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Archaeological Team that includes archaeologists with the Colorado State University Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands and the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.)
| Date Taken: | 02.09.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 02.09.2023 12:35 |
| Story ID: | 438177 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 218 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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