L. CHACE & CO. (Dorchester) Stonewear Question

Hello All,

I'm new to this forum. I've been searching for information on this 2 gallon jug I found a year, or so ago. It looks very similar to other Cobalt accented stoneware from New England/Massachusets. I've searched a few sites and read through a New England Stonewear book looking for information. I was able to find information on the Chace family and their production of stoneware, but nothing on this particular makers mark. Any information would be appreciated. I'm wondering what time period this may be from and the approximate value if anyone would venture a guess.

The text on the jug reads:

"L. CHACE & CO."
"DORCHESTER"
"2"

Thanks in advance for any information or expertise you all might have!

 

I don't know anything about stoneware, but I imagine others do.
Welcome!

 

Thank you for the warm welcome! I have found that NE Stoneware is a niche all to itself. I love this forum. Amazing finds and stories!

 

I don't know about stoneware either. I just get curious & start Googling.

Weird you can get the Dorchester Pottery, or you can get L & B G Chace in Somerset, but the 2 don't seem to go together. One entry I saw said that L. & B.G. were the son & nephew of Asa Chace, who was the founder of the pottery. Maybe L. did a stint learning the craft in Dorchester?

In auction listings from a handful of years ago, these were exceeding auction house estimates of prices. Could be you have a real treasure here. Let's hope the Great & the Good of Pottery know. And Welcome!

 

Have you tried asking at Crocker Farm? They’re very responsive and very helpful.
https://www.crockerfarm.com

 

Those were essentially the same results I came up with. I found a book with a few notes and there were a few members of the Chace family with the first initial of "L". My hope is that its a gem, but my fear is that's it's a reproduction. A nice piece with a decent valuation would be a nice surprise. When I purchased the jug, there was a table for sale in the same garage that was dated to circa 1760. Hopefully, someone might have a thought or some information not available on the web.

 

Thank you for the tip! I'll head over there, also

 

Hi,
I have gotten very good advice from Crocker Farm. They answer pretty quickly also. I have sent them photos of unmarked pieces and they have always given great answers One of them within 125 miles of where it was made. I give them the highest marks for information.
greg

 

Thank you for the advice! Just sent out an email to Crocker Farm with pictures and the information I have. We'll see what they have to say. I'll definitely fill you all in when I hear back from them. Either way, it will be interesting. If it's not valuable, I still think it's a beautiful accent piece and I'll find a permanent spot for it.

 

OK, so I got in touch with Crocker Farm. They got back to me quickly and had some very helpful information. Here's some of the information they sent me.

"We have not seen that mark before. It probably pre-dates the Chaces' pottery in Somerset--I did a quick lookup for you and Leonard Chace was in Boston in the 1820's, so it is possible that he had a shop up in that area earlier than the L. & B.G. Chace period, but probably shortly before, based on the look of your jug. It would take more research to flesh that out, but my quick searching tools did not turn up anything concrete. You do see unusual marks like this from time to time. In this case, it probably would not tend to add a whole lot to the value of a comparable Somerset jug, simply because collectors for this time period and region do not value rare marks as much as some others do. (In some other cases, a rare mark like this would add a great deal to the value, but in others, that's unfortunately not the case.)"

"The age is really not the main determining factor of value, but more the quality of the decoration--in this case, a Somerset jug with that design would tend to bring around $200, conservatively. The rarer Dorchester mark is tough to quantify, but I would think it might add $100 or so to that value--it's tough to say. Hope this helps!"

I also spoke with the operator of Mad River Antiques, he was incredibly helpful and tried to dig up some answers. He found some similar information and will contact me if they ever run across this makers mark in the future.

The jug gave up a few answers, but with a situation such as this, answers often produce additional questions! Thank you all for the help and direction, I'll keep digging and post any information I find.