Choose from the categories at left to view items that are in stock and offered for sale. All of our pottery, hand-blown glass, and pewter are new replica wares; they are not antiques!
Before purchasing our wares, please read the information on this page.
REDWARE POTTERY:
Redware was the earliest type of pottery made by European settlers in NC. Our redware retains the look and color of the old redware, and ranges from very plain to very fancy. We use an old decorating technique called "slip trailing" to decorate our pots with different colors of clays. A clear glaze is then applied, through which the natural reddish orange of the clay, and the colors of the clay slips, can be seen.
Remember that redware is by nature somewhat porous. It will hold liquid for a period of time, but is not recommended for long-term storage of liquids. Also, redware will absorb some water when it is washed; be sure it is thoroughly dry before storing it in a tight cupboard.
Redware is excellent for use in baking dishes. Heat penetrates well through the red clay and cooks food evenly. In the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries, the bulk of pottery baking dishes were of redware. Redware can be placed directly in a preheated oven.
Small pieces may be used in a microwave, though all pottery wears out much quicker if used in a microwave oven. Pieces over about 4" wide should not be used in the microwave.
All of our pottery is made for use, and the glazes contain absolutely no lead.
Please hand wash your redware; do not wash in a dishwasher.
SALT-GLAZED STONEWARE POTTERY:
The process of salt glazing developed originally in Germany. From there, it spread to other western European countries, and was introduced in North America when the continent was colonized by Europeans.
When salt glazing pottery, unglazed wares are placed in the kiln and heated to a very high temperature. At that point, salt is thrown into the hot kiln; the salt vaporizes, fuming throughout the kiln interior, and combines with the clay of the pottery, forming a natural glaze on all the pots.
Patterns of reduction in the kiln give our pots the same variations of color as the salt glaze of colonial and early America -- anything from a light cream or gray color to a dark brown. Where wood ash settles on the pots, the glaze may have a greenish or yellowish hue. Most of our salt-glazed pottery is undecorated. Many of the early styles of salt-glazed wares are dipped in an iron-bearing slip before firing, pushing them even more toward the brown end of the color range. Each pot will look a little different from the next, depending on how the flame passes through the stacked pottery. Our salt-glazed pots are stacked in the kiln in the old style, rim to rim on top of each other. This leaves "stacking marks' on the rims of most items -- smooth, but a slightly different color than the rest of the rim.
Much of the early salt-glazed stoneware used in colonial America was made in Europe and imported to the colonies. Some, however, was made in this country. After the American revolution, salt-glazed stoneware became increasingly an American product.
Salt glazed stoneware is a more durable type of pottery than redware. It is physically stronger, can take more abuse, and is more impervious to liquids.
Early salt glazed pottery, made before 1850, generally had no interior glaze other than that which naturally occurred in the salting process. (In our own area of NC, no liner glaze was used on most pots even through the 1930s.) In our attempt to be historically accurate, we also add no additional liner glaze. This means that our wares cannot be depended upon to hold liquid for an extended period of time without some slow seepage. Therefore, we do not recommend use of our salt-glazed pottery for long-term storage of liquids, unless you are willing to put up with a little historically accurate seepage!
Salt-glazed stoneware should not be used for baking in the oven. It is too dense, will not bake foods well, and might even crack.
Small pieces (mugs, etc.) may be used in a microwave, though all pottery wears out much quicker if used in a microwave oven. Pieces over about 4" wide should not be used in the microwave.
All of our pottery is made for use, and the glazes contain absolutely no lead.
Please hand wash your salt-glazed stoneware; do not wash in a dishwasher.
GREEN GLAZED POTTERY:
Many of the green-glazed wares which turn up in colonial America were made in Europe, particularly in the 17th century. A portion of our work replicates those green glazed European pieces. The sharing of pottery forms within Europe itself, due to travel and trade, meant that some shapes of wares were already almost identical from country to country. Still, regional differences existed. Some shapes could be said to have been distinctly English, Dutch, French, etc.
As America was colonized, shapes of many American-made pots reveal their roots in the European cultures from whence the potters came. In this country there did eventually develop shapes that became distinctly "American."
One culture that continued to commonly use green glaze long after many potters had abandoned it was that of the Moravian potters in the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina. Other 18th-early 19th century potters in central NC also made some green glazed pottery. Our selection of green wares also replicates some of those 18th and 19th century North Carolina green pieces.
Our green glazed wares are extremely durable, and do not require any special care or attention. They may be used for baking, and may be placed directly into a preheated oven. Small pieces (mugs, etc.) may be used in a microwave, though all pottery wears out much quicker if used in a microwave oven. Pieces over about 4" wide should not be used in the microwave.
We recommend hand washing for all our pottery; do not wash in a dishwasher.
HAND-BLOWN GLASS:
Though we are potters ourselves, we also love handblown glass! For over twenty years, we have sold historical glassware that goes well with our
own pottery, both visually and in period-appropriateness. Various craftsmen have blown the glass for us.
Initially, all of our glass was handblown by John Pierce and Dave Byerly of P & B Glassworks in Williamsburg, Virginia. They were very fine
craftsmen, and the glassware they made was beautiful. Unfortunately, John is now deceased, and Dave is no longer blowing glass. We do still have a
few pieces of their work left for sale. As I sell out of John and Dave's glass pieces, I continue to remove each listing from the website.
Currently we are having our historical glasswares made by two different groups of glassblowers:
Our replicas of 19th century glass are handblown by Marc VandenBerg, Philip Yamron, and Josh Wojick of Greenfield Village (Henry Ford Museum)
in Dearborn, Michigan. Their high level of skill is evident in their blown glass work. By the early 19th century, there were thriving glasshouses in
a number of areas of the United States. Our handblown replicas of 19th century glass are patterned after antique glass pieces from some of those
locations -- southern New Jersey, New York, New England, Ohio, and other areas of the American Midwest.
The remainder of our blown glass -- replicas of anything dating before 1800 -- are made for Westmoore Pottery by glassblowers in Sweden.
Sweden has a long history of glass work, beginning in the sixteenth century and continuing through today. The glassblowers in Sweden who make our glass
are highly skilled and specialize in replicating handblown glass to a very fine degree of accuracy. The work from originals that date from many
centuries. For us, the Swedish craftsmen are replicating glassware from the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, and work from Dutch,
German, Bohemian, Swedish, French, and English originals.
Please expect some variation of size on glass items.
All our handblown glass should be handwashed in warm soapy water, then rinsed and dried. Do not wash in the dishwasher.
Glass is not suitable for hot liquids, and should not be used in a microwave.
HANDCRAFTED PEWTER:
Our pewter is all handcrafted by Thomas and Patricia Hooper of Louisiana, Missouri using traditional methods from the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. All items have a polished pewter finish.
Pewter should be handwashed in warm soapy water, then rinsed well and dried immediately with a soft cloth. Do not put pewter in the dishwasher or microwave, and do not use over an open flame or in the oven.
BOOKS:
Most of our books are new, and will be marked as such. We do carry a few secondhand books as well. These are books that are out-of-print and no longer available as new copies, but are of enduring interest to us and to our customers. I try to offer them whenever I can find copies in "very good" or better condition at a good price. (We do not sell ex-library books, since many of them became ex-library books under questionable circumstances.)
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