North American stoneware often referred to as pottery was made in the 19th century and used daily in colonial households. Stoneware was used for anything we might use glass jars or Tupperware for today. It held everything from water, soda, and beer to meat, grain, jelly and picked vegetables. American salt glazed stoneware was valued as not only durable, decorative housewares but as a safer alternative to lead-glazed earthenware, commonly referred to today as American Redware.
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American Stoneware |
Americans began producing salt glazed stoneware circa 1720. The process began by making the item from clay, it was fired at a very high temperature, and the pottery would essentially become stone. Salt-glazed pottery is a type of pottery produced by adding salt to a kiln to create a glass-like coating on the pottery. The sodium in the salt bonds with the silica in the clay, creating sodium silicate, or glass.
A very commonly employed technique seen on American Stoneware is the use of cobalt decorations, where a dark gray mixture of clay, water and expensive mineral cobalt oxide is painted onto the unfired pottery. In the firing process, the cobalt reacts to produce a vibrant blue decorations.
Pottery with cobalt blue markings are highly collectible and can be very expensive. In the last half of the 19th century potters in New England and New York State began producing stoneware with elaborate designs such as deer, dogs, birds, houses, people or historical scenes. These pieces are rare and a real treasure.
My husband loves to collect decorated stoneware, and we have many quality pieces for sale at our store, The Brick House Antique Center, Palmyra, NY. You can also shop through the pages of our website: www.brickhouseantiques.com to see what we have to offer.
That is all for today, from the Brick House Blogger!
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