Tile
PeriodCirca 1750
Place MadeNetherlands
MediumBuff earthenware with tin glaze
Dimensions5.25 × 5.25 × 0.25 in. (13.3 × 13.3 × 0.6 cm)
InscribedHandwritten paper label glued to back of tile reading "Tile from the house which Rev. John Scudder M.D. was born Sep 3, 1793. Son of Joseph & Maria Johnston Scudder. Col Johnston g. father of John Scudder furnished a Balakava incident for the War of our Revolution."
ClassificationsArchitectural Features
Credit LineGift of William S. Holmes, 1944
Object number2021
DescriptionA square flat tile of buff earthenware, surface covered with a soft pale blue ground, hand painted central motif of a yellow basket filled with dark blue, red, and yellow blossoms. Central motif flanked on all four sides by stylized foliate panels appearing to be aplied as stencils.Curatorial RemarksDuring the 16th and 17th centuries, Chinese porcelain was rare, exotic, and highly prized. European potters attempted to replicate the fine, soft white clay but had no success. The Chinese used kaolin, a high-quality, high-firing clay resulting in thin, fine ceramics. In the Delft region of Holland, potters there developed a method of coating the yellowish or brownish regional clay with a hard tin glaze, resulting in a vivid white background, on which blue or polychromed glazes and designs showed off dramatically. The sturdy clay also made excellent ceramics for architectural decoration. Fireplaces in Europe and in the American colonies were often surrounded by colorful glazed tiles, able to withstand the high heat of the hearth. It is estimated that about 800 million individual tiles were manufactured in the 17th and 18th centuries. Pottery decorators gradually moved from copying Chinese designs and motifs to topics and scenes closer to home. Figures dressed in European garments, windmills, farm houses, biblical scenes, and many other designs were hand painted. This tile contains both a central handpainted floral basket in several glaze colors. The bright white border appears to have been applied as a stencil.NotesThis tile came from a fireplace surround of the Scudder family farm house, on the site of the Freehold train station. Nathaniel Scudder was born on 10 May 1733, the son of Jacob Scudder (1707-1772) and Abiah Rowe Scudder (1708-1791). Nathaniel attended the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and graduated in 1751. Scudder went on to study medicine in Philadelphia and moved to Freehold to practice medicine. He married Isabella Anderson (1737-1782) in around 1755. The couple had nine children. At the beginning of the American Revolution, Scudder left his medical practice and became a Lieutenant Colonel in the First Regiment Monmouth New Jersey miitia. In 1777, he was promoted to Colonel. On November 30, 1777, Scudder was elected to Congress. In the summer of the following year, less than three weeks after the Battle of Monmouth, Scudder appealed to the New Jersey legislature to grant authority to the delegates to sign the Articles of Confederation. On October 17, 1781, Scudder led a battalion of his regiment against British troops and raiders at the Battle of Black's Point in Shrewsbury, where he was killed. Scudder was buried at Old Tennent Church where he had been a congregant. Dr. Nathaniel Scudder was the only member of Congress to die in battle during the American Revolution. Scudder's home was inherited by his son Joseph (1762-1843). The homestead was torn down in June and July of 1896 to make room for the railroad station.
Collections
