Description:
Tan-bodied crock stamp-impressed "J.M. & T.S. CRAFTS / Whately. Mass. / 2", over three blue flowers on stems extending from one stem. James Monroe Crafts (1817-after 1899) and Thomas Spencer Crafts (b.1825), two of 8 children of the potter Thomas Crafts (1781-1861), continued the family pottery business. In 1838, James was briefly the first manager of his father's new branch of stoneware works in Nashua, New Hampshire. In late 1841 or 1842, James returned to Crafts pottery in Whately, and produced pottery under his own name until he was joined by his brother, Thomas Spenser Crafts, using this "J.M. & T.S. CRAFTS / Whately. Mass" mark from about 1850 to 1851 when Thomas Spenser Crafts left for California to search for gold. The crock has a round, flared lip, straight-sided cylindrical shape with C-shaped lug handles on either side, and flat base; the bottom of the base has rows of incised grooves. The interior is coated with Albany (brown) slip. At one time, it was thought that the circular lid (HD 73.090.2) that came with the pot did not match body and was placed in storage. However later further research suggests that the lid does match molded fragments found at an archaeological site in Whately, and may indeed be original to the pot.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+73.090.1 |
