Lot Essay
A potter who first appeared in Albany, New York, directories in 1825, Charles Dillon entered into a business partnership with Moses Tyler in 1826. Their stoneware factory, Tyler and Dillon, was located at 236 (and later 222) Washington Street in Albany; one of their principle inventions was the portable furnace. Tyler and Dillon operated until 1834, when Charles went into business with Jacob Henry, Edward Selby and Nathan Porter; the partnership lasted until 1842. See (Robert Wheeler, "The Potters of Albany," Antiques, (December 1944) p.345-347. In the city of Albany's Census records, Charles Dillon is only listed in 1830, where he is recorded as living in the first ward in a household of nine.
Earl Bridges, listed in the Albany City Directories as working 1836-1846 at 71 Beaver Street, worked throughout New York State in Saratoga, Schenectady and Albany. A pair of portraits by Earl Bridges of Mr. and Mrs. Amos Hunt located in the Albany Institute are illustrated and discussed in Tammis Groft's The Folk Spirit of Albany: Folk Art from the Upper Hudson Valley in the collection of the Albany Institute of History and Art (New York, 1978) p. 20-21.
Earl Bridges, listed in the Albany City Directories as working 1836-1846 at 71 Beaver Street, worked throughout New York State in Saratoga, Schenectady and Albany. A pair of portraits by Earl Bridges of Mr. and Mrs. Amos Hunt located in the Albany Institute are illustrated and discussed in Tammis Groft's The Folk Spirit of Albany: Folk Art from the Upper Hudson Valley in the collection of the Albany Institute of History and Art (New York, 1978) p. 20-21.