Early American Whiteware and the Emerging Middle-Class Market: Archaeology at the Lewis Pottery, Louisville, Kentucky

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In 1829, an experiment to produce American whiteware began at the Lewis stoneware pottery in Louisville, Kentucky. Archaeological excavations at the pottery uncovered evidence of this effort and the subsequent attempt to enter into full scale production of domestic dinnerware and sell it to the burgeoning middle class. Excavation of a kiln, privies, and waster deposits produced a variety of stoneware and whiteware wasters and kiln furniture. In this paper, I will discuss the effort to make domestic whiteware, the challenges the potters faced, and the products produced from 1830 to 1850. Furthermore, I examine the American whiteware market for Louisville’s emerging middle class through the discovery of Lewis Pottery whiteware at other sites.      

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2022 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology