French 18th Century Unglazed Earthenware Oil Pot with Green Splash Glaze

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Made in France around 1780, this unglazed earthenware oil pot is decorated with a green splash glaze and impressed fingerprint … Read more Made in France around 1780, this unglazed earthenware oil pot is decorated with a green splash glaze and impressed fingerprint marks. Oil pots of this kind were practical kitchen vessels, and the largely unglazed earthenware body reflects their utilitarian origins in eighteenth-century French country pottery. The green splash provides a partial decorative glaze across the surface, while the fingerprint marks record the hand of the maker, a feature collectors value as evidence of hand production. The form is simple and rounded, shaped for storing and pouring oil. As one of the earlier pieces of pottery in the collection, it carries the character of pre-industrial provincial ware. Now appreciated as a decorative object, the pot suits display on a kitchen shelf, dresser, or table, where its earthy surface and hand-formed character stand out, whether shown alone or among other period country pottery. See less