Images(10)

Bottle

Date1850-1860

Maker Enoch Sprinks Craven (active ca. 1832-1893)

OriginAmerica, North Carolina, Randolph County

MediumSalt-glazed stoneware

DimensionsOH: 17"; OW: 12"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2009.900.4

DescriptionSix-gallon slightly ovoid salt-glazed stoneware jug or bottle with high narrow neck and two thin strap handles springing from either side of the neck and attached to the body just below the shoulder. The piece was accidentally embellished with several kiln drips and spots from fly ash while it was being fired, but the only intentional decoration is several bands of coggled design at the shoulder.
Label TextSix-Gallon Bottle
Enoch Spinks Craven (active ca. 1832-1893)
Randolph County, North Carolina, 1850-1860
Salt-glazed Stoneware
2009.900.4

Several bands of coggled decoration on the bottle's shoulder were the only intentional embellishments added to this piece. However, several large unintentional kiln drips add greatly to the overall aesthetics of the vessel. Over time the bricks of a salt kiln deteriorate as the result of repeated firings. Pieces of brick, accumulated salt, and wood ash drop onto the pots below resulting in this type of ornamentation. The metal band on this bottle is a late-nineteenth or early-twentieth century repair.

E. S. Craven was a fourth generation potter whose wares tend to reflect the shape and feeling of vessels made a hundred years earlier. He was born and raised in Randolph County and his two sons continued the family tradition by becoming stoneware potters as well.

MarkingsStamped "E.S.Craven" on top of shoulder
ProvenanceLuke Beckerdite, Williamsburg, Virginia
William Ivey