Late 19th Century Red Wing Pottery Stoneware Salt Glaze 4 Gal Crock Drop Eight + Target

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Red Wing stoneware has been around since the late 1800s, but it hasn’t always had that symbolic red wing we … Read more Red Wing stoneware has been around since the late 1800s, but it hasn’t always had that symbolic red wing we have all come to know and love. In the earlier years of production, Red Wing potters took great pride in finishing their hand turned pieces with a hand drawn, cobalt blue design. The Red Wing Stoneware company first began producing utilitarian stoneware in 1877. These early pieces were covered with a rich tan salt glaze and decorated with a beautiful hand drawn image with pattern names like Target, Lazy Eight and Rib Cage. These images were drawn on crocks, butter churns, water coolers and jugs. Around 1896, salt glaze was replaced by a creamy colored zinc glaze, and the hand drawn cobalt designs gave way to stamped designs.

Offered here is an antique 4 gallon stoneware salt glazed crock, decorated with the hand drawn cobalt blue design and the number 4. This pattern is unique because it is primarily done in the Drop Eight pattern, but it also has a Target pattern incorporated into it as well. I have been unable to find an example of another antique Red Wing crock with two patterns superimposed on each other. I suspect that two different jobbers worked on this piece, and so both of their marks were placed on it, but that's just a guess.

Great pottery rings inside. Elephant ear handles. This is a large piece stands 12.75" tall and 12" in diameter (measuring across from the exterior edge of the rolled rim, all the way across to the exterior edge of the rolled rim on the other wide. The crock weighs in at nearly 18 pounds by itself, without any box or packing material. A great accent piece for any primitive decor.

Very good antique condition. A tight hairline extends down from the rim but does not threaten the integrity of the piece. One fleck off of the finish of the rim. Two pock marks on the exterior wall look like glaze pops that happened during manufacturing. Some whitish rings around the inside - looks like maybe it held standing water at different levels for long periods of time. I did some test spots with a razor scraper, and (with a significant investment of time), a lot of this can probably be taken off, but may still retain ghost marks.

This crock is clean. What look like splatter marks on the exterior front are actually bits of extra glaze that landed there during manufacturing and dried darker than the rest.

If you are a collector of primitive crocks or antique Red Wing Pottery pieces, this will be the gem of your collection. See less