Vigo County Historical Society

Historical Treasure Article

Historic Treasure of the Week - September 9, 1984
By LaVonne Waldron
Vigo County Historical Society

Container showed uncanny knack for preserving garden's bounty

This humble little stoneware jar once served an important purpose in the storage and preservation of food.

The jar and the hint of autumn in the air remind us that in households of an earlier time, preserving food was a matter of survival. Drying, salting, smoking and pickling were among the methods used.

Canning is a more recent invention. In 1809 Nicolas Appert, a Frenchman, invented a method of preserving fresh food by heating it and sealing it in air-tight jars. Glass, stoneware and tin containers have all been used.

As early as 1785, people were beginning to understand the health hazards of lead glazes. Potters were encouraged to produce stoneware with its "perfect and wholesome" glazing produced from sand and salts.

Especially during the years between 1820 and 1900, individual potters and companies known as potters were busy producing crocks, pitchers, jugs, churns and covered jars. The stoneware pieces were primarily used to preserve and store foods safely.

The potter who produced this air-tight stoneware jar may have been an area craftsman. The early settler who worked as a potter had to locate a suitable clay, build a kiln, dig and haul clay in great quantities and prepare and season it for use. The prepared clay was then thrown on his wheel. Early potters used a kick wheel or treadle to propel the wheel head (a revolving circular table). As the wheel spun around, the jar was shaped with moistened fingers and shaping tools, just as many potters do today. Then it was fired in the kiln to give it the hardness to make it useful.

The firing process was a relentless test of the potter's skill and luck, If something went wrong in the firing, he could easily lose all the time and work invested in the contents of the kiln.

The stoneware jar pictured here is 6 1/4 inches high and has a four-inch diameter. Its capacity is approximately 24 ounces. It has a distinctive gray color.

The salt glaze finish is less than the 'perfect" claimed for the process. Common salt will form a "perfect" glaze with suitable clays containing silica and techniques of firing at temperatures as high as 2300 degrees. However, even today skilled workers can lose as much as 25 percent of their ware in the complex process.

A chocolate-colored slip (a thin wash of clay) was used to glaze the interior of the piece.

Salt glaze stoneware was often decorated with cobalt oxide. Blue was the strongest of colors that would not fade during firing. A cobalt decoration enhances this jar.

The groove inside the rim of jar accepted the sealing wax to seal the lid. As is often the case, no lid survives.

At the Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley, this sturdy little jar is on display with other jars, used to preserve food in an earlier time, along with a stick of sealing wax.

Equipment and processes for preserving food have changed, but the first rule of family canning remains the same: Muster all the hands you can find to pick, peel, pit, chop, snap, or seal.

The Historical Museum of the Wabash Valley,1411 S. Sixth St., is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday through Friday.