Description: Light tan-bodied bulbous stoneware jar (cover missing) stamp-impressed "T. CRAFTS & CO / WHATELY / 3" in-filled with cobalt blue, over two large blue flowers on wavy stems extending from two leaves, which was owned by the Coolidge family of Orange, Massachusetts. Thomas Crafts (1781-1861) was one of the most successful potters in Whately (a town just south of Deerfield). He started making glazed redware pottery in 1802, developing a successful teapot business; he switched to salt-glazed stoneware in 1833 and was active until 1848, turning over the business to his sons. The sides of the baluster-shaped jar curve out and continue up until approximately one half the distance up and then curve in towards the rim, which supported a cover. Two C-shaped lug handles are on either side of the opening. There are are two rows of incised grooves passing through the handles. The salt-glaze is of medium thickness, and is heavier on the front than the back, and is medium thickness on the rest of the body; the interior is covered with Albany slip. There are cracks on the lower left side, and the cracks on the bottom may be due to liquid freezing on the inside.
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+79.048 |