John Henry Benner

Dyer Memorial Library

http://www.dyerlibrary.org/history.html

"A unique natural resource found in Abington was a clay pit located behind the first meetinghouse. The high quality of the clay attracted John Henry Benner, a master potter, to move to Abington ca. 1760. Benner was a German craftsman who had worked at the Glassworks in Germantown (now Quincy). He lived and worked here until the 1790s. Bennerware is recognized as one of the finest examples of colonial pottery."

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Early New England Potters and Their Wares by Lura Woodside Watkins pg 45-46

"In 1765 a potter described as either Dutch or German arrived in Abington, a little way below Quincy. He is said to have come directly from across the seas, but there is a possibility that he was one of the immigrants to Germantown. By 1765 the projects there had proved unsuccessful, and the craftsmen were obliged to seek employment elsewhere. John Henry Benner, therefore, may have settled in this vilage not far from Germantown to establish himself anew. His story is illuminated by the existence of several authenticated pieces of his craftsmanship. The teapot and pitcher shown in Figs. 30 and 31 may be seen in the historical museum of the Dyer Memorial Library of Abington.

 Benner's house and shop were on the land of a prominent citizen, Woodbridge Brown, and were situated close by the clay pits. Whether Brown, and later his son Samuel, leased the property to Benner, or whether they had a financial interest in the pottery, is unknown. At present the land, more recently known as the Dyer estate, is owned by Homans the florist, and is about one-half mile south of Abington Center on the road to Whitman.

Back of the ploughed portion of this open land, I found in 1942 a small section of Benner's waste pile on the very edge of a small clay pit filled with water. The shards recovered were for the most part similar to the Bayley pieces (see Chapter VIII) and showed no marked dissimilarity to the work of our potters of English descent. The one notable exception was a fragment of a bowl or jar with slip stripings trailed horizontally on the outside. Much of the ware is of a brilliant red-orange color treated with splashings and dribblings of dark glaze. The rims are turned with great precision. On the whole, one would say that Benner was a superior potter. This opinion is confirmed by examination of the charming little teapot, which was obtained from a descendant of Benner for the Public Library collection. It is the only complete redware teapot made by an eighteenth-century American potter that I have seen. Any question as to its provenance may be answered by the fact that it has a flat base _ a characteristic feature of American turned pieces in contrast to the ringed feet of imported ones.
Benner died January 16, 1796, at the age of sixty-eight. He left a wife, Margaret, and two children, but the pottery seems to have come to an end with his passing."