Alkaline Glazed Stoneware

Alkaline Glazed Stoneware

Stoneware production in the U.S. began at different times but took off in the 19th century. After the civil war, stoneware production increased even further with the use of industrial pottery techniques, including the use of molds to create vessels. This industrialization put most local potteries out of business by the Great depression.

Stoneware is characterized by a hard, impermeable, and non-porous body with a wide variety of paste colors—usually buff/tan but can sometimes be brown or grey. It is generally fired at 1200-1350° Celsius. Alkaline glaze stoneware is mostly found and was produced in the Southeastern U.S. from North Carolina to Texas. It is characterized by a shiny transparent glaze made from a combination of wood ash or lime, clay, and some form of silicate (this can vary regionally). The color can range from green to dark or pale brown depending on the iron content of the clay and/or kiln conditions (Greer 1981). The texture can range from smooth and shiny to runny/streaky and may be more or less translucent depending on whether wood ash or lime was used as a base, with wood ash producing a more translucent glaze (Greer 1981:202).

Greer, Georgeanna H.
1981 American Stonewares; The Art & Craft of Utilitarian Potters. Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, Pennsylvania.

https://apps.jefpat.maryland.gov/diagnostic/Post-Colonial%20Ceramics/NorthAmericanStoneware/index-NorthAmericanStoneware.html

1810-mid 1900s

Historic Ceramic

Ash based- p1318/ACC 140, p1655/ACC 140, p272/ACC 165, p5284/ACC 170, p5295/ACC 170, p1765/ACC 170, p5/ACC 189, p5/ACC 189, p418/ACC 193.

Lime based- p/1655/ACC 140, p1666/ACC 140, p305/ACC 190