American Relic Hunters - Bottles Forum

So you like keeping the pottery pieces? A Before and After.

Posted By: andy g.
Date: Tuesday, 17 July 2007, at 10:57 p.m.

The comment by Steve in PA about getting “every last bit” of pottery made me think about just how hard that notion is and what you have to do to have a shot at restoring a piece. For starters, when we are digging pits that have quality pottery, my buddies and I try to save every shard for potential restoration. Depending on the circumstances – namely, if the nightsoil layer is loaded, if we have time, and if the pits are not wet – we will sift the holes. One inevitably misses seeing with the naked eye a lot of small artifacts which is mixed in with dirt. Not only is sifting the best way to get those little pieces for the pottery puzzles, but also you can find some cool small artifacts such as buttons, coins, bottles, buckles, marbles, pipes and just about anything imaginable. (Later this week, if I can find some time, I will post pictures of some cool smalls we have recovered.) Nonetheless, the amazing thing is how a pile of shards can be transformed into a wonderful, displayable artifact. Here is one example --

This is just a pile of stoneware pieces that I collected from a small area when we were digging out a massive trash pit in the basement of an old Bowery, New York saloon. (You can see an article that I wrote on that dig, which we dubbed the NYC & DIV V 2006 Digathon, in a newsletter available on my bottle club’s website at http://www.potomacbottlecollectors.org/download.php?view.7.) As you can see, the pile was a bit disheartening and the chaos made me think there was no chance I had found enough pieces. Despite my inclination to toss the pieces back, I kept them and a few months later my digging buddy Scott presented me with a spectacular piece that now sites atop my dresser in my bedroom.

Moral of the story is when in doubt, keep the shards and see if the puzzle will come together. More often than not, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Good luck digging,

andy g.

Messages In This Thread

• So you like keeping the pottery pieces? A Before and After.
  andy g. -- Tuesday, 17 July 2007, at 10:57 p.m.
  • Seeing is believing!
    Georgiadigger -- Tuesday, 17 July 2007, at 11:13 p.m.
  • heck of a restoration job there, looks real good
    huntcav65 -- Wednesday, 18 July 2007, at 5:28 a.m.
  • That turned out great!!!
    FrontierWest -- Wednesday, 18 July 2007, at 10:21 a.m.
  • Scott does a heck of a job!!
    Steve in PA -- Wednesday, 18 July 2007, at 11:40 a.m.
  • Re: So you like keeping the pottery pieces? A Before and After.
    B.H. -- Wednesday, 18 July 2007, at 11:46 a.m.
  • Re: So you like keeping the pottery pieces? A Before and After.
    mike in co. -- Wednesday, 18 July 2007, at 10:19 p.m.