Images(11)

Tabletop Churn

Dateca. 1870

Marked by Isham Hudson

OriginAmerica, Alabama, Randolph County

MediumAlkaline-glazed stoneware

DimensionsOH: 10 11/16"; OW: 8 1/8"; OD: 7 3/16”.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, C. Thomas Hamlin III Fund

Object number2022.900.3

DescriptionTabletop churn: cylindrical vessel with flat trimmed foot and slightly sloping shoulder rising to a high flared rim; incised concentric bands at the high shoulder and middle of the body; extruded handle applied at the high shoulder and the middle of the body.
Label TextBorn in Georgia in 1848, Isham Hudson was an enslaved black potter working for pottery owner Cicero Demosthenes Hudson of Hickory Flatt in Chambers County, Alabama. Census records reveal that after Emancipation, Isham Hudson continued practicing his trade. He is listed as a potter and a farmer, a common pairing of professions seen among many rural potters. One of only two marked pieces currently known by Hudson, this churn is stamped with the potter's initial's "I. H". The impressed mark, stamped upside down, can be seen to the left of the handle.
MarkingsImpressed upside down and to the left of the handle: "I.H".
ProvenancePurchased from Rob Hunter,
Sold at Cagle Auctions, March 26, 2022.