The Taylor Brown Stoneware story begins to unfold!

The gate at the Brown family cemetery plot.

The ETB  brand- mark of the Holy Grail?

This past July a young woman contacted me about some bits of Texas stoneware she was uncovering, which led to some wonderful discoveries. Since that first contact, Susan Singer has proven to be a dogged researcher and  “made my day” several times, as she went and did what I had only imagined. She not only found the site where Taylor Brown operated his early Texas pottery, and his family cemetery, but she found quite a few pottery shards all over the old Brown property outside of Henderson, Texas.

CLUES FOR A HISTORY DETECTIVE. Susan Singer has had great luck searching for answers to Henderson's stoneware secrets. Photographs of Brown pottery shards and Brown plantation scenes courtesy of Susan Singer.

I had merely mentioned, if she wanted to do some real service, to find me some evidence of Brown stoneware, as I had been trying to establish what its characteristics were for some time. Taylor Brown operated one of the very first potteries in early Texas, and his site was also the original site of other early Texas potters.  You might say Taylor Brown, or his potters (some of them slaves) would have thrown the “Holy Grail” of Texas stoneware, if there was such a thing.

Susan poses next to the gravestone of Taylor Brown.

One of the slaves known to have thrown for Brown was Elix Brown.  After I had discovered some early vessels which I thought had their initials on them, marked ETB, I needed some kind of hard proof. There was very little known for sure about Brown stoneware, and no known samples of it. What did his pottery look like? What colors where his glazes? What color was the clay? What kind of markings might he have put on his stoneware? What were the common forms thrown on his wheel? I needed something tangible to connect my findings to Taylor and Elix Brown of Henderson.

Susan went to work on the project with true dedication, scouring (with permission!) the old Brown home site and what was left of the kiln sites. Roads and lakes and general earthwork mayhem had obliterated much of the old pottery operation. Still, there was plenty of evidence of the early Texas potter’s toils and products.

To say the least, we learned a ton of stuff from Susan’s efforts. Much to my pleasure, she found numerous pottery shards, with a variety of clay bodies and glazes. And most importantly, some artifacts which matched my ETB vessels; Salt glazed, alkaline glazed, Albany glazed, pink and khaki colored clay, with telltale iron granules. Day after day Susan would send me photos of her finds… day after day there were new revelations… I am sure everyone will want to see and inspect her shards. She has uncovered Brown, Leopard and Rushton fragments, as well as Hunt and other east Texas potters.

First of all here are the vessels thought to be Taylor Brown’s, or perhaps his slave, Elix Brown’s. These are the only three vessels I have seen with the ETB mark... a small T dangles upside down from the top of the E!

 

1) A small salt-glazed pitcher, photo courtesy Rick Reed.

 

2) A large, olive, ash-glazed jar, sold at Burley Auctions. The stamped impression is faint at the bottom of photo at right.

 

 

The 3 gallon lime green jug which started this whole search... I found on a friend's deck full of rocks!

Notice several things which are key Brown pottery characteristics; Fairly pure gray to khaki-colored clay, with a minimum of iron impurities; Symmetrical, ovoid forms (like a football!); HANDLES, not pulls; Soft, fairly consistent glazes;  Multiple decorative rings around the shoulder.

A large, even, ash-glazed shard found by Susan Singer at the Brown pottery site. This shard certainly firms up the physical description of Taylor Brown pottery... and easily connects to the ETB stoneware. Photographs courtesy Susan Singer.

This shard is very related to the EB salt glazed pitcher...

It was the curious mark on these pots that caused me to research Taylor Brown.  Having little to go on, I knew I was looking for a Republic period potter, probably from East Texas, with initials E.B. But more curious was the little upside down T hanging off of the E. It eventually became my theory that the initials were those of a famous slave potter named Elix Brown of Henderson, Texas who had shared attribution with his owner, Taylor Brown. (See top of page) The upside- down T, dangling from the E, was very reminiscent of the game of “Hangman” where the elements of a popular game are built on the end of a T, a sort of whimsical construction which allowed the maker to mark his vessels and yet share, somewhat wryly,  the label with his master.  As far as I know, this is the only example in American stoneware of this kind of logo.

What Singer found was that John Leopard, Mathew Duncan, Taylor Brown and probably Joseph Rushton  all came from Randolph County, Alabama or thereabouts. These potters came from the same area, and shared cultural traditions, and especially pottery techniques. That helps to explain why the earliest appraisals of the ETB stoneware pointed to Duncan pottery.  And they should have. There was no doubt a professional relationship and artistic influence where the potters came from, and there could very easily have been one in Texas as well. And this may help support my theory, that it was Elix Brown who trained or influenced Duncan potters who emerged later at the “Randolph Pottery” Site in central Texas..

That typical tobacco spit brown!

 John Leopard shards found at the Brown Site. By 1870, and probably earlier, John Leopard lived next door to Taylor Brown, and operated his own pottery factory at Taylor Brown's old facility... photographs courtesy Susan Singer.

 

                  Note the sienna! It is believed that Leopard used iron oxide in his glazes.

Below are Leopard jars for comparison... Leopard forms were more like Grecian vases... wide shoulders, small bottoms. Leopard glazes were rich, spotty and rough looking compared to Brown's.

 

 

John Leopard leaned towards using pulls instead of handles... and had some fantastic glaze recipes. Leopard also used incised decorative rings... but not consistently. These rings may tell us when he was throwing for Taylor Brown.

Susan smartly researched these potters back to their roots and found the wonderful background to this story. All but Taylor Brown show up in the U.S. Census in Randolph County, Alabama in 1840. Taylor Brown was from adjacent Bibb County and married in next door Jefferson County in 1828 and still living there in 1830. He struck out for Texas right after Texans won their independence from Mexico. Apparently, after Taylor Brown discovered rich clay deposits around 1839 in east Texas the Alabama potters followed him to Rusk County, Texas and went to work for him, before starting their own pottery enterprises. Eventually Taylor Brown got out of the stoneware business. John Leopard operated a pottery at the old Brown site after the Civil War. Elix Brown disappeared but showed up later in the 1880's working for the Hunt pottery in Henderson.

Finally we have very strong evidence that links the ETB vessels to Taylor and Elix Brown. So Susan Singer has quickly become my Texas stoneware hero!

Another great shard... very even for alkaline glaze... very similar to the ETB jug. Photographs courtesy Susan Singer.

There were also some khaki colored, almost toasted salt-glazed pieces...

 

For comparison I include some examples of Duncan pottery... One distinct difference between Duncan and Brown would be the lip on the mouth of the jug. Duncan made a little rounded donut. That's right... Duncan donuts!

Taylor Brown or more probably ELIX, made a flattened ring. (Compare to top photo). It is quite possible that Elix Brown was the main craftsman of this early pottery company, and learned his trade in Alabama... and maybe from Matthew Duncan... or even more possible that the skills were passed down from generation to generation via the slaves who did the majority of the work.








So that is where we are for the moment..no shards with the ETB logo popping up on it... but that may come with time. We all owe Susan Singer a lot for doing this ground-work and homework for Texas Stoneware enthusiasts! And a special thanks to her for sharing these informative photographs of her finds.

 

The CD's have arrived!

And they are wonderful. You can get a taste of them at Raegan's website, www.raegancushman.com.

We made one hundred. Now it's up to her.

Fly little bird!

George Ensle: A Messenger from the Other Side.

Maybe it was because he was from Houston, my old hometown. Or maybe it was because he had known and even opened for Navasota’s hero, Mance Lipscomb. It might have been because so many of his songs seemed to conjure up such familiar pictures in my mind. But it was probably because of the funny, sometimes heart-grabbing stories and introductions George Ensle told between his original songs that made him one of my personal favorites that have performed at the Corner Café.

He shared about a human dynamo across the street from his home in South Austin, a little old lady who had once helped her husband build their home, doing a great deal of the stone work herself. He and his wife had set out to be of her assistance, and ended up receiving a blessing themselves. George Ensle has learned to relish in God’s mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. And guys down the street that found insane pleasure in sitting in front of an air conditioner, out in the yard! Ensle seems to genuinely enjoy his own jokes, and the everyday hilarity in life. And he remembered Mance as a warm and generous friend who had always invited him to come and visit in Navasota. But regretfully, he never did. He still finds satisfaction though, that Mance Lipscomb, upon hearing him play, told him he had good rhythm as he stepped off the stage. You can tell that moment stands like a tiny trophy in his heart, treasured encouragement given from somebody who ought to have known. He even played a song inspired by, and written in tribute to Mance.

Ensle has mastered the difficult task of bringing to life the forgotten and unseen realities around us. He told of a tender moment, which had repeated itself, after someone close to him had died, when a butterfly came and landed on his toe, as if to give a comforting farewell, like a messenger from the other side. And maybe it was. But only an artist of some kind would have comprehended the timely love note. Many of his songs are written about everyday incidents or people who made eternal impressions on him. They and their spirits have been kept alive by his soulful lyrics.

Ensle sings about the here and the now as well, about his wife, his daughter, red neck neighbors who never throw anything away, yet always aware that God had woven himself through every person and incident and facet of our lives. George Ensle reminds us of the miracles that we once saw, and the ones we might miss if we quit looking for them. He is no angel, but he is definitely a messenger from the other side.

A New Navasota Tradition: Concert Hopping!

World famous entertainers have often been in our midst. If you want to know about some of them, visit the Navasota Public Library this month and check out the display in the back. You will be stunned and pleased to know who some of our neighbors have been. And here’s the point: Nobody ever knew or cared, and that was our loss.

But I want to tell you about the here and the now. Regardless of how people in the old days responded to rare talent that passed through small towns like ours, we can only benefit from our own choices. And let me tell you, we have some great choices these days. Friday, music enthusiasts were able to hear two excellent female vocalists at the Corner Café. Season Ammons very ably opened for Susan Herndon and they both charmed the crowd. Both very talented young women, I dare say Navasota has rarely seen this class of female vocalist performing live, much less a pair of them. Herndon had an impressive quiver of original songs, written and delivered with easy flair. At then end, the two joined into an impromptu version of a Fleetwood Mac song that made us realize we had only experienced the tip of the iceberg.

But that was not the end of it, and I ran over in the balmy night air to the Filling Station to catch Navasota’s favorite son Randy Pavlock. Randy was slicing the night air with his usual fare, Grimes blues-rock, and a nice crowd came out to see him. He is a popular opener for big time rock groups these days, and we are lucky to get him anymore. The recent rains had cooled things off and it was pleasant out. I walked up just in time to catch him using an old blues trick, playing slide on his guitar with a beer bottle, out on the streets. That’s sort of a Navasota tradition.

Blind Willie Johnson, credited as the progenitor of the slide guitar, used a sawed off bottleneck and taught Mance Lipscomb, who improvised and used his pocketknife. Blind Willie played for nickels at the intersection of Tenth and Washington Ave. Right here in Navasota. Who could have guessed that someday NASA would send one of his songs on the voyager space ship, along with a few others, on a golden CD of the most important songs of Western civilization.

Local restaurateurs Phil and Sarah Hiebeler have taken a daring leap. They built a stage, put in lights and sound, and scheduled an exciting line-up of Texas songwriters, who come and dazzle us every Friday night. The show comes with the meal. So far we have heard a treasury of song, delivered up by Texas songwriters, good ones who actually sell their songs. Bob Livingston is one the original Lost Gonzos, has written, played and recorded with Jerry Jeff Walker, Gary P. Nunn, and Michael Martin Murphy. He is a heavy hitter. He was right here in Navasota. He opened for Mance Lipscomb a long time ago and loved our Blues museum and was eager to reminisce.

Kevin Robinson, sure to be a force in Texas country music, played a few weeks ago. His day job is expediting for Hassell Construction. He has an unforgettable, mature voice, and writes the kind of songs you want to hear again. Right here in Navasota. So far the musicians are impressed with our charming little town, and want to come back. And there are more to come. It’s neat to say you just played in the “Blues Capital of Texas.” It’s even better to say you live here!

Note: The Navasota Examiner did not have room in their publication to include this article, so I offer it here. The musicians and restaurateurs deserve all the exposure they can get.