Collecting Antique Blue & White Stoneware
Nothing says farmhouse more than blue and white stoneware. This dense ceramic decorated with cobalt blue on white was popular in the early 20th century.
I recently purchased a stoneware butter crock and enjoyed learning about its history. Today I’m happy to share some of that info with you.
Some other posts about collecting that you may interest you include: autograph books, stick spatterware china, and vintage Christmas decorations.
My crock is a real beauty. I picked it up at my favorite annual church tag sale, where they had it displayed in their “antique” section. I paid $10 for it, which is a lot for a tag sale, but I knew it had good value.
Potters achieve the striking blue decoration by using cobalt blue oxide which is then fired with a salt glaze.
Most pieces of blue and white stoneware lack the bumpy, “orange peel” surface that one expects with salt glaze. The surface is almost as smooth as glass because potters would add borax along with the salt.
This antique English beer crock provides a good example of salt glazed pottery. You can see its rough (orange peel) surface, caused by the addition of salt. In America, salt glaze stoneware tends to be gray with cobalt decoration.
In my opinion, the embossed cows on my crock make it particularly desireable. The holes on the sides once held a metal bail with a wooden handle, but sadly that’s missing. It does reduce the value, but not terribly.
The bottom of the piece looks exactly as you would expect an antique blue and white crock to look with an unglazed edge showing signs of wear.
Pieces with entirely glazed bottoms should raise a red flag, as it should be entirely unglazed or partially glazed, like this one.
Likely manufactured sometime between 1900 and 1930, my lovely butter crock was mass-produced and may even have been a grocery store “premium” given away with a purchase, perhaps with a sack of flour, for example.
A lot of blue and white stoneware came out of the Great Ohio Valley where clay was cheap and plentiful. Potteries like Nelson McCoy, Brush-McCoy, and Robinson-Ransbottom took advantage of this and churned out thousands of pieces per day at their peak.
After churning cream to make butter, a housewife would have placed the creamy delicacy in a crock, similar to mine, and stored it in her root cellar, down in the well, or perhaps out in the spring house, which would have been built over a natural spring or small creek for the purpose of keeping food chilled.
Other blue and white stoneware pieces that you might encounter while out vintage shopping include pitchers, water coolers, and salt boxes. Pottery designed for food storage began to go out of favor as glass canning jars became more popular, particularly as they offered a long-term food preservation option.
Blue and white stoneware pottery, especially pieces with text on them [given the popularity of “words” these days] makes a delightful addition to farmhouse home decor. Even if you must pay full price for a piece like mine, which I’d value at $70-80, it’s well worth the impact it promises to make on your decorating. But if that’s out of your price range, I do hope you’ll find one out in the “wild” very soon 🙂
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What a great find! The cows just make it even more special.
Agreed!! Thanks for popping in Melissa 🙂
Thanks for the tutorial! Love knowing the history and how to recognize salt glaze and modern reproductions.
You’re so welcome! Glad it was helpful 🙂
What a great tutorial, Diana. I didn’t know the proper way to distinguish between salt glazed and just glazed. AND telling if it’s a reproduction. Thank you for that valuable information.
You are so welcome!! Glad you enjoyed the post 🙂
Excited to see your info on the butter pats. Love them! I got one in Santa Fe that I was told was out of the Harvey House restaurant there.
Glad you enjoyed the post, Patty–I’d love to see your butter pat 🙂 Did you post it in the FB group?
Great informative post as usual! I;m afraid to start collecting butter pats but have kept a few; they look like doll dishes to me!!! I love the bite-size tidbits of info you give us; simple and managable! Love your crock; blue and white is rapidly becoming my favorite kitchen colors!
Thank you Kathy–you are so sweet! I absorb bite-sized tidbits best myself so I guess that’s how come I lean that way–thank you for the affirmation 🙂
Reading your articles and looking at the pieces that you post and describe makes me appreciate and excited over the pieces I already have and wants me to go out and find more treasures.
Thank you so much
Renee
I’m so glad I’m able to pass on a little inspiration, Renee 🙂 Thanks so much for letting me know–it means so much!
Butter Crocks, Butter churns, Butter Pats, Butter molds…Oh my…yes I collect all of those…my poor girls. I put my butter pats under a cylinder type cloche. I love your knowledge you share with us Diana…Bless you
Your butter crock is beautiful and I’d be happy to collect butter pat plates if I ever found any! Thanks for sharing your vast vintage background knowledge with us!
Great finds…and I would place that crock in the late teens to 30’s. Very nice piece. Great post, Diana.
I always learn something from your posts! I have a blue and white spatterware butter crock that I adore.
Karee
So pretty! I love learning about your finds. Thanks for keeping the informative posts coming – they make me happy 🙂
I love butter pats and what a pretty crock! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm–pinned!
I love that crock! It would match my cobalt and white kitchen perfectly!! 🙂
I was looking for something to identify the crock I just picked up at Goodwill. It’s exactly like the crock you have that is blue and white with the cows on each side. I was worried it was a repro but it has the bottom edge unglazed. It is 5″ tall and 7″ wide, no cracks or chips and has it’s bail and wooden handle. Thank you for all your info and posting! Still not sure mine is old, it’s almost too nice.
Thanks,
Joyce
Sounds like you have the real deal Joyce! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it-