THE CLARK DYNASTY OF NEW YORK STATE GREAT ANTIQUE AMERICAN STONEWARE

---

THIS SIMPLE CREAM POT WHICH SOLD FOR A MODEST $150 LAST YEAR AT AUCTION PERHAPS HOLDS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CLUES INTO POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK STONEWARE HISTORY. 

THIS POT IS NOT ONLY DATED ON ONE SIDE BUT HOLDS A VERY IMPORTANT CLUE TO THE MAKER ON THE OTHER. HUDSON RIVER STONEWARE ENTHUSIASTS HAVE WONDERED FOR MANY YEARS ABOUT THE TURN OF EVENTS IN EARLY POUGHKEEPSIE. IN GEORGE LUKACS BOOK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF POUGHKEEPSIE POTTERS LUKACS OUTLINES A DEFINATIVE LOOK INTO POUGHKEEPSIE HISTORY.

THE SECTION THAT INTRIGUED THIS AUTHOR WAS THE SECTION OF TIME AROUND THE 1817 TO 1825 PERIOD WHEN DURELL WILLIAMS AND WILLIAM NICHOLS WERE WORKING TOGETHER IN POUGHKEEPSIE. IT WAS NEVER DOCUMENTED WHY THESE MEN CAME TOGETHER WORKING ON THIS PROJECT, BUT PERHAPS WE NOW KNOW. 

MY OPINION IS THAT THE POUGHKEEPSIE POTTERY WAS A CLARK VENTURE...AT LEAST FROM 1817 ON, POSSIBLY MUCH EARLIER GOING BACK TO DURELL WILLIAMS FIRST ATTEMPT AT THE MARKET IN POUGHKEEPSIE.

WHAT WE KNOW FOR SURE IS THAT BOTH WILLIAMS AND NICHOLS WERE IN THE EMPLOY OF REUBEN OR DAVID OR NATHAN CLARK, BEFORE THEIR ARRIVAL IN POUGHKEEPSIE. 

WE KNOW THAT DURELL WILLIAMS BEING SENIOR TO NICHOLS, HAD BEEN IN POUGHKEEPSIE YEARS BEFORE, FROM THE MID 1790S TO AROUND 1806. THEN, WILLIAMS RETURNED AROUND BETWEEN 1815 AND 1819 TO REESTABLISH HIMSELF IN POUGHKEEPSIE. WE KNOW FROM WILLIAM KETCHUM'S BOOK ON NEW YORK POTTERS THAT DURELL WILLIAMS, PREVIOUS TO HIS RETURN TO POUGHKEEPSIE,  WAS IN CORNWALL, N.Y., THE ORIGINAL CLARK POTTERY HOME, AND WAS DOCUMENTED IN THE CENSUS IN 1810 THERE.

THEN, THERE IS WILLIAM NICHOLS, FAR YOUNGER THAN WILLIAMS, DOCUMENTED IN ATHENS, NEW YORK. AT THE CLARK AND HOWE POTTERY BEING TRAINED AS A POTTER. NICHOLS HAD MARRIED NATHAN CLARK'S SISTER AND HAD STARTED A FAMILY. THE STORY BEGINS TO THICKEN UP RIGHT ABOUT HERE.

NICHOLS AND WILLIAMS WORK TOGETHER IN POUGHKEEPSIE TO REESTABLISH THE POTTERY THERE BEGINNING IN 1819. WILLIAMS IS GONE BY 1821.

NICHOLS IS THE ONLY POTTER WORKING IN POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK IN 1821. IT WAS STUNNING WHEN WE FOUND THE EARLY POUGHKEEPSIE CREAM POT DATED 1821. IT HAD TO HAVE BEEN MADE BY THE  WILLIAM NICHOLS POTTERY! 

THIS HUGE FLOWER WE CALL, THE  "NICHOLS SNAP DRAGON FLOWER". STONEWARE WITH THIS DESIGN HAS TURNED UP FOR YEARS WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION IN THE NEW YORK/HUDSON VALLEY REGION.

THERE ARE EXAMPLES OF STONEWARE WITH MAKERS STAMPS READING "W. NICHOLS PO'KEEPSIE" WITH THIS STONEWARE BLUE "TURNIP" DESIGN.  THERE IS ALSO A DESIGN CALLED THE "LOLIPOP FLOWER" STAMPED WITH NICHOLS NAME. BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS "SNAP DRAGON FLOWER"?

WELL, I THINK THAT WAS NICHOLS AS WELL. 

I BELIEVE THE "SNAP DRAGON FLOWER" IS THE WORK OF A COBALT ARTIST WHO WORKED FOR THE CLARK FAMILY AND ALSO IN POUGHKEEPSIE WITH NICHOLS. WE BELIEVE THAT THIS "SNAP DRAGON FLOWER" IS AN EARLIER DESIGN NICHOLS USED BEFORE USING THE "TURNIP". I BELIEVE THAT DURELL WILLIAMS, WILLIAM NICHOLS AND POSSIBLY A THIRD PERSON, A WORKER WHO WAS A DECORATOR, WERE ALL SENT TO POUGHKEEPSIE TO REESTABLISH THE POTTERY THERE. IT WAS COMMON FOR STONEWARE DECORATORS TO MOVE AROUND TO FIND WORK AT THIS TIME.

DURING THE PERIOD RUNNING UP TO ABOUT 1821 THERE ARE NO SIGNED PIECES OF NICHOLS WORK. AS STATED IN LUKACS BOOK "HE WAS ALWAYS WORKING FOR SOMEONE ELSE". 

THIS IS A PHOTO OF AN UNSTAMPED "SNAP DRAGON FLOWER" JUG THAT WENT THROUGH AN AUCTION IN 2019. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE LOWER TERMINAL OF THE HANDLE HAS A SQUIGGLY LINE COMING OFF THE HANDLE. SO, NOW A "SNAP DRAGON FLOWER" WITH THIS VERY UNUSUAL AND VERY UNIQUE SQUIGGLE, THE SAME SQUIGGLE AS THE TURNIP JUG STAMPED POUGHKEEPSIE AND WILLIAM NICHOLS.

THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE LOWER HANDLE TERMINAL OF A WILLIAM NICHOLS JUG WITH THE "TURNIP" ON THE FRONT SIDE. IT HAS THE SAME SQUIGGLE AT THE BASE OF THE LOWER TERMINAL AS THE "SNAP DRAGON FLOWER" JUG THAT WENT THROUGH THE AUCTION SHOWN ON THE PREVIOUS PAGE!

THE FAMILY CONNECTION OF NICHOLS TO THE CLARKS

THE PROFESSIONAL CONNECTION OF BOTH WILLIAMS AND NICHOLS TO THE CLARKS

THE "SNAP DRAGON FLOWER" ON DOCUMENTED POUGHKEEPSIE STONEWARE

THE "SNAP DRAGON FLOWER" ON DATED STONEWARE FROM 1821

THE UNIQUE SQUIGGLE COBALT DESIGN ON BOTH "SNAP DRAGON FLOWER" AND      "TURNIP" DESIGNED STONEWARE WHICH WAS STAMPED BY NICHOLS

THE DATES MATCH

THE DESIGNS MATCH

SO IN THE ENDING OF OUR JOURNEY INTO EARLY POUGHKEEPSIE, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE "SNAP DRAGON FLOWER" WAS ONE USED AT CLARK & LUNDY TROY N.Y. , N. CLARK & CO. ATHENS, N.Y. , AND POUGHKEEPSIE N.Y. THERES MOST LIKELY MORE...PLEASE HELP FIND THEM! WE BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE CORNWALL EXAMPLES OF THIS DESIGN.

THIS LEADS US TO BELIEVE THAT ALONG WITH WILLIAM NICHOLS AND DURELL WILLIAMS, THE CLARK'S SENT A DECORATOR/HELPER TO REESTABLISH THE POUGHKEEPSIE POTTERY AFTER WILLIAM CARROLLS DEPARTURE. DURELL WILLIAMS, EXPERIENCED AND KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT CONSTRUCTION AND SETUP OF A POTTERY, ALONG WITH YOUNG NICHOLS, DESTINED TO BECOME THE MANAGER OF THE POTTERY AND A HELPER/DECORATOR TO HELP THINGS ALONG, ALL JOINED TOGETHER IN POUGHKEEPSIE IN 1819. THIS WAS SORT OF AN AWAY TEAM SENT BY THE CLARKS, A PRACTICE THEY USED LATER ON WITH MANY OF THEIR POTTERIES OF THE 1800'S. IT MAY ALSO BE TRUE THAT THE POUGHKEEPSIE POTTERY HAD BEEN A CLARK POTTERY BACK TO THE TIME OF WILLIAMS FIRST PERIOD OF WORK THERE IN THE LATE 1790'S TO 1806. SO FAR THIS IS UNDOCUMENTED, BUT WE BELIEVE IT CAN BE!

WE BELIEVE THAT AT VERY LEAST THE NICHOLS/WILLIAMS POUGHKEEPSIE POTTERY WAS A CLARK SATELLITE POTTERY MUCH LIKE LYONS, MOUNT MORRIS AND OTHERS. WILLIAM NICHOLS WAS A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY AND TRUSTED PERSON TO SEND TO THRIVING POUGHKEEPSIE AT THE TIME OF THE PLAGUE. HIS EARLY DEMISE IN 1823 WAS CERTAINLY A CRUSHING BLOW TO HIS YOUNG FAMILY AND TO THE CLARK FAMILY WHO HAD SO ENTRUSTED HIM WITH THE JEWEL OF POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK.

NICHOLS CHILDREN WERE ALONG WITH THEIR MOTHER WERE PUT AS WARDS UNDER NATHAN CLARK'S WATCHFUL EYE AND GREW UP IN THE MIDST OF THE CLARK DYNASTY OF THE 1800'S HUDSON VALLEY.