Images(6)

Cream Pot

Date1852-1854

Artist/Maker James M. McBurney & Sons ((active 1850-1855))

OriginAmerica, New York, Jordan

MediumSalt-glazed stoneware

DimensionsOverall: 11 1/2 x diameter: 11 3/4in. (29.2 x 29.8cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1975.900.4

DescriptionThree-gallon wide-mouthed cream pot, jar or crock, with bilateral lug handles and thick, projecting rim, made of salt-glazed stoneware with incised banding near the top and near mid- section, an impressed maker's mark near top center, and cobalt decoration on the front in the shape of a grinning "turnip" (or other root vegetable) beside a "3" with dots leading off it and squiggles below the dots. Albany slip interior. Sides are slightly rounded. Mouth is roughly the same diameter as the base.
Label TextWhile images of humans on stoneware are fairly rare, representations of anthropomorphic turnips are almost unheard of. This whimsical piece may represent a play on the pickled vegetables or cream it held. Just as likely, the potter or decorator had a sense of humor.
InscribedNo
MarkingsImpressed "J. M'BURNEY/& SONS./JORDAN" below the rim. A "3" written in cobalt oxide is to the left of the impressed mark.
ProvenanceMr. and Mrs. Frank Beaven, Allendale, N. J.; Maze Pottinger Antiques, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

Exhibition(s)