Antique Primitive Manganese Glazed Redware Apple Butter Crock Southeastern PA
Description: An antique hand thrown redware apple butter crock from Southeastern Pennsylvania. The crock, which has a round flat base has rounded sides ending in a shaped rim with a rounded top. The crock is glazed on the inside and out with a nice brown colored background and has dark brown or black splotches on the outside indicative of manganese glazing. The base of the crock is unglazed and has the usual red coloring of unglazed redware with dark areas along the edges. This primitive crock has a very nice look and is in great condition. Both the exterior and interior have a nice brown coloring showing lines resulting from shaping the piece over a wheel. This primitive piece is very well done and looks great both in shape and color. Please carefully review the photos presented as they are part and parcel of our description.
Date: Uncertain, but most likely mid to late1800s.
Origin: Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Size: The crock measures ~3 1/4" in diameter at the base and measures ~4 1/2" in diameter at the top. The piece is ~5 1/8" tall and weighs over one pound and 5.5 ounces.
Maker: Unknown.
Marks: No markings.
Distinguishing Characteristics - Most Interesting About The Piece: This is a true primitive antique and very nice apple butter crock, which seldom comes in such great condition after over 100 years of being around. The piece has very nice appearance and would display nicely in any collection of old primitive redware home implements.
Condition: Crock is in very good condition given its age and its utilitarian function. It has no hairlines, breaks, cracks, or repairs. It does have general crazing to the glaze and some losses to the glaze on the exterior and interior. It has small flakes to the glaze as well as very shallow chips on the top edge of the rim. It also has glaze chips to the glaze on the surface of both the exterior and interior (see third and fourth photos for examples of exterior glaze chips and glaze loss). After examining the piece very carefully, we only see a few minor flakes here and there, all of which can be seen in the photo and are old and very much difficult to observe. Finally, as is the case with all these primitive old redware pieces, the crock has very few of the usual defects you would expect such as pops, slubs, unglazed areas and uneven areas. Please view the photos for additional condition information.
