The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, DE  19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Stone, Gerry Wheeler                                                 

Title:               Bonnin & Morris factory site excavation papers

Dates:             1967-1968

Call No.:         Col. 887

Acc. No.:        11x2, 11x4

Quantity:        10 folders (about 3 linear inches)

Location:        34 J 5 and map case 2, drawer 4

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Gousse Bonnin (1741?-1780?) and George Anthony Morris (ca. 1742-1773) founded Bonnin & Morris or, as they called it, the American China Manufactory, in 1770 in the Southwark area of Philadelphia.  The company made soft-paste porcelain, copying contemporary English wares.  The venture ended in late 1772, a victim of labor difficulties and the inability to compete with the lower prices of imported china.

 

In 1967-1968, an archaeological excavation of a part of the factory site was undertaken by Gerry Wheeler Stone and Paul R. Huey under the direction of Graham Hood, an archaeologist with Colonial Williamsburg.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Reports, photographs, and drawings of the excavations carried out on the site of the Bonnin & Morris porcelain factory site in the Southwark area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1967-1968 by Gerry Wheeler Stone and Paul R. Huey.  The reports, the drawings, and some of the photographs were used by Graham Hood in his book Bonnin and Morris of Philadelphia: The First American Porcelain Factory, 1770-1772 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1972).

 

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

 

Accession 11x2 gift of Gerry Wheeler Stone.

Accession 11x4 gift of Paul R. Huey.

           

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

Topics:

            Bonnin and Morris.

            American China Manufactory (Philadelphia, Pa.)

            Pottery - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia.

            Excavations (Archaeology) - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia.

 

Additional author:

            Huey, Paul R.

           

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location:  34 J 5 and map case 2, drawer 4

 

 

Folder 1:         Archaeological field notes, 1967-1968 (acc. 11x2)

 

Folder 2:         “The Bonnin and Morris China Factory Site in Southwark, Philadelphia,” by Paul R. Huey (acc. 11x4)

 

Folder 3:         Lists of ceramics and drawings of ceramics (acc. 11x2)

                        [Note: additional drawings are in oversize folder]

 

Folder 4:         Maps of Philadelphia; notes from city records (acc. 11x2)

 

Folder 5:         “Stratigraphic Evolution of the Bonnin and Morris Factory Site” (acc. 11x2)

 

Folder 6:         Hood, Graham: correspondence (acc. 11x2)

 

Folder 7:         papers about Bonnin and Morris site by Paul R. Huey (acc. 11x4)

 

Folder 8:         photos on CD: excavations, 1967-1968 (acc. 11x4)

 

Folder 9:         photos and slides of Bonnin and Morris excavations (acc. 11x4)

 

Oversized Folder 10:            drawings of excavations and ceramics (acc. 11x2)