North American Stoneware

Click photo to enlarge Photo: North American stoneware storage jar

• Type: Stoneware, gray
• Date range: 2nd quarter 19th century-1900+ (1840-1900 in Canada)
• Place of origin: United States and Canada

The fabric of this ware is gray, and it is coated with a salt glaze. The interior of some vessels are coated with a dark brown, high-gloss surface called an Albany slip.The exterior decoration, when present, generally consists of simple painted or stenciled designs in cobalt or manganese.

In the early to mid-19th century, size numbers and makers marks were often stamped on the vessels.

American "gray and blue" stoneware tended to be used for large vessels, such as harvest bottles, butter pots, creampans, storage crocks and pinched-neck pitchers.

See Noel Hume 1976: 101

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