Description:
Gray-bodied stoneware churn stamp-impressed in front "GOODWIN / & / WEBSTER / HARTFORD", lightly covered with a cobalt blue wash. Numerous stoneware potters worked in the Hartford, Connecticut area, supplying Connecticut valley with durable crocks, jars, and jugs made from suitable clay brought up the river. Horace Goodwin and Mack C. Webster first purchased the stoneware pottery of Peter Cross in 1810 and then Daniel Goodale's pottery in 1831, both operating on Front Street. Goodwin was a son of Seth Goodwin, who had made redware in the Elmwood area of Hartford as early as 1795. Goodwin and Webster ran both the Front Street shops for some ten years, and stoneware impressed "GOODWIN & WEBSTER / HARTFORD" remains common; the partnership came to an end around 1840. The churn has a tall, tapering, cylindrical form with flared top, two C-shaped lug handles attached on both sides, and a flat base. The body has an iron band around the neck, which reinforces an old crack. The interior is coated with a layer of brown Albany slip; the marks of the thrower's fingers are easily seen. The lower front side (both left and right) of churn is indented from other objects when fired in the kiln; the original lid is missing. Because of the hard usage they received, and because they were fewer in number to begin with, churns are more rare than other pieces of stoneware. The examples with the straight sides that flare out toward the base are the earliest in form. Possibly a 3 gallon churn.? The papers of merchant William Porter of Hadley, MA, owned by Old Sturbridge Village have receipts from Goodwin and Webster for their stoneware.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2000.39.4 |
