WHERE NEW YORK BEGAN: ARCHEOLOGY AT THE SOUTH FERRY TERMINAL

March 18, 2010 through July 5, 2010
New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex in Grand Central Terminal (Mid-town Manhattan)
Admission is free
http://www.mta.info/mta/museum/whatsnew.htm

It isn't often artifacts dating back to the 1600s from early Dutch and British settlements are uncovered in New York. "Where New York Began: Archeology at the South Ferry Terminal," presents over 100 artifacts of the 65,000 recovered at the South Ferry Terminal archeological dig in lower Manhattan. The exhibition at the New York Transit Museum's Gallery Annex in Grand Central Terminal, in-part, offers a fascinating look into the creative and utilitarian use of clay as a base material and its conversion into items of service and beauty. Visitors will see shards of ceramic roof tiles, cooking pots, dishes and pipes that still retain their luster and beauty after being discarded and buried for so many centuries. Admission to "Where New York Began: Archeology at the South Ferry Terminal will be on public exhibition through July 5, 2010. Admission is free. Open: Mon. - Fri. 8 AM to 8 PM; Sat. & Sun. 10 AM to 6 PM.

Imported ceramic items from the Netherlands and Britain served as decorative items for homes along with vessels to prepare and serve meals in, providing the amenities of their old life in the New World. Clay also served as the base material for glazed roof tiles, exterior bricks, interior wall tiles, earthenware floor tiles, salt glazed stoneware, cooking pots, plates and other household containers. An amazing collection of fragile and beautifully ornate Dutch and British manufactured pipes are also in the exhibition. "This is probably the only time in our lifetime that this area will be dug up and studied," said Carissa Amash, curator at the New York Transit Museum, which is showcasing the artifacts discovered at South Ferry.

Dutch and English manufactured smoking pipes dating back to the 1600s were also among the artifacts uncovered during the archeological dig before the construction of the South Ferry Terminal began. Nineteen of these pipes will be featured in an upcoming exhibition at the New York Transit Museum's Gallery Annex in Grand Central Terminal in mid-town Manhattan. Attesting to both their popularity and fragility, 1,470 fragments of clay tobacco pipes were found on the project site.  Though pipes are utilitarian objects, their design, decoration, and maker's marks can be seen as icons for the brief period of time in which each was manufactured and used.  Tobacco, native to America, was introduced to Europe in the mid-1500s. By the 17th century it was popular among all segments of society, regardless of class, race, or gender.  

Many of the 17th century pipes found on the site can be traced to manufacturers in Amsterdam and Gouda based on their makers' marks.  Three lettered initials were common marks used on early Dutch pipes. Research from other New York digs suggests that "MTS" was owned by English-born Matthias Stafford working in Amsterdam.  Some marks were passed down through generations of a family, such as the "hand" mark on a pipe here that was passed down through various De Vriendt family members for 63 years.  Other marks were bought and sold or rented by local pipe makers, such as the three-leaf clover mark exchanged between dozens of pipe makers between 1660 and 1840.  Pipe design and decoration can provide clues to origin-18th century Dutch pipe bowls were often cone-shaped rest backwards on their stems, and were often more highly polished.  English pipes from that time period sat more upright, with a duller finish.  

Since pipes frequently broke and were easily replaced, they are often found in archeological deposits.  Many pipes found at the project site showed signs of use - having been smoked, broken and then discarded as trash.  We can tell that many samples were crudely or hastily made, leading to the conclusion that pipes sent to the colonies from Europe were often inferior products, or possibly "seconds," in comparison to those sold in Europe

Say's Roxanne Robertson, director of special projects for the New York Transit Museum, "This is an important exhibit for those with an interest in how clay as a raw material was transformed into beautiful and functioning objects dating back to the 1600s. It is also a visual treat to see the intricate old-world craftsmanship and makers marks that still holds their beauty to this day. This exhibit is in part, a tribute to the staying power of the clay as a viable medium and to the craft of creating household, industrial and artistic ceramic objects."  

Though many of the artifacts were small in size, they are large in what they reveal about the city's past.  Many pieces were excavated from secondary deposits ? redeposited material dumped for landfill ? and can't be tied to specific people or households.  They do tell us something about daily life in the city from colonial times to the 20th century.  These fragments illustrate color and textures of the city over the centuries as the city changed and grew.  Through these thousands of sherds, the history of New York's architecture, food, business, and transportation come alive.