Description:
Greyish white-bodied ovoid stoneware jug stamp-impressed "ORCUTT / AND / WAIT / WHATELY" in-filled with cobalt blue. One of the first of a group of commercial potters in the Whately area, Stephen Orcutt (1777-1821) began making redware in Whately in 1797, where his wares were first documented in 1802 in the account book of storeowner Rufus Wells. In 1815, he began producing stoneware, using a water-powered grinder, in partnerships with the brothers, Luke (1785-1853) and Obediah or "Obed" (1783-1853) Wait. Orcutt and Wait were the first potters in Whately to mark their wares, which were most commonly pots and jugs, but a churn and cooler, marked with their names, also exist. The partnerships only lasted until March 1, 1817 when Orcutt sold his share to Luke Wait and moved to Vermont. Luke and Obed operated the mill, using the mark "WAIT," until the fall of 1817 when Luke sold the property to his father, Joel Wait who discontinued the stoneware operation. This jug is a one gallon size (Orcutt did not mark his wares with volume marks). The jug's neck is encircled by tooled lines; the thick handle is laid onto the body with its lower end protruding slightly, a circular imprint on its outer surface, and cobalt blue on the body where the ends of the handles are attached; the bulbous sides curving out from the neck and in to the footed base. The glaze is thick with a semicircular color variation on the right side caused by contact of the body with a cockspur during kiln firing; and the interior is coated with Albany slip.
Subjects:
Pottery; Enamel and enameling; glaze (coating by location); Stoneware Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+78.021 |
