A 19th Century Red Earthenware Form Regularly Found in Ontario

I would like to briefly discuss a style that appears to be a common red earthenware form that has been found in Ontario over the years - some of the following jars are attributed to potters in Ontario, but others were merely found in Ontario - and, it doesn't always mean a product was made in the area that it was discovered. However, this form does seem to have been a focal point for production with Ontario's potter's industry in the nineteenth-century, but I assume that this form was also produced in nearby western New York.

There are a number of explanations why a certain object was found where it was located that are not only limited to the production of a local craftsman. For example, people traveled over the years and they brought their possessions with them. People also relocated - and, potters also exported their wares. What's really interesting about this form is how the museum describes one of its uses - this is a use that is not regularly cited for products made by American red earthenware potters today.

If this form were made in Maine it may have been called an oyster jar; however, this same form may have been called a storage jar elsewhere in New England - or, even a storage jar or an oyster jar in the mid-Atlantic states. Truthfully, the form was used however the owner wished to do so; none-the-less, the Joseph Schneider Haus Museum in Kitchener, Ontario has a large collection of the following formed jars that are referred to as a fruit jar (or a preserve jar) with an alternative name, which suggests these jars were used as a tomato jar. 

Honestly, the only other instance, that I can recall, where I have heard the word, 'tomato' associated with American-made utilitarian pottery today was a Virginia-made lidded stoneware jar that sold a few weeks ago in Virginia that had the word, 'tomato' inscribed prominently across the front of it. This is an interesting twist on a form that isn't usually associated with this kind of fruit in America today.

According to an article written by Katherine Hull and Eva MacDonald in 2008 for the Ontario Archaeology Society Symposium, "Red earthenware (or redware) is a common artifact recovered from nineteenth-century sites in southern Ontario (today). Indeed, domestic potters produced a myriad of vessel forms that met the needs of rural consumers, who used the inexpensive red earthenware in food preparation, food storage, and dairying on a daily basis. Clearly redware vessels were central to work in the kitchen and the dairy. The terms used in cookbooks reflect the parlance (expression) of the day, as well as the multi-functionality of the vessels in the practical  sense. This may reflect a slight disconnect between these terms and those used  in the semi-industrial world of the mid-to-late-nineteenth-century potter. By contrast, potters' lists tend to list vessel forms with function descriptions, and nine different folk terms were commonly used (by Canadian potters); milk pan, cream pot, butter pot (with cover), preserve jar, tomato (or fruit) jar, tea pot, water pitcher, milk crock, and molasses jug. Other vessels for sale but not mentioned as frequently in period advertisements include churns, covered dishes, platters, mugs, oval bakers, and beaded nappies."

In some sense, the museum describes all of the following objects as tomato jars. Listed in the descriptions below, is either the museum's attribution or where the jar was discovered.

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

History Not Given by the Museum

Circa 1850-1910

Stands 20 1/2" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Attributed to Cyrus Eby - Bruce County, ON

Circa 1857-1905

Stands 6 1/4" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Reportedly Used in Waterloo County, ON in the 19th Century

Circa 1875-1900

Stands 9 1/2" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Reportedly Used in Waterloo County in the 19th Century

Circa 1850-1900

Stands 8 1/16" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Reportedly Made in Waterloo County, ON

Circa 1875-1900

Stands 9 1/2" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Reportedly Made in Waterloo County, ON

Circa 1875-1900

Stands 7 1/2" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Reportedly Used in Waterloo County, ON in the 19th Century

Circa 1860-1900

Stands 7" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Reportedly Used in Waterloo County, ON in the 19th Century

Circa 1850-1910

Stands 8 1/4" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Reportedly Acquired in Tavistock, ON

Circa 1890-1910

Stands 7 3/8" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Reportedly Used in Waterloo County, ON in the 19th Century

Circa 1850-1900

Stands 7 1/4" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Signed by the Potter, Joseph Wagner

Made in Waterloo County, ON

Circa 1880-1900

Stands 7 1/4" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

Reportedly Used in Waterloo County, ON in the 19th Century

Circa 1840-1860

Stands 10" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Reportedly Found in Waterloo County, ON in the 19th Century

Circa 1840-1860

Stands 9 3/4" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

19th Century Red Earthenware Storage Jar

Reportedly Used in Waterloo County, ON in the 19th Century

Circa 1840-1860

Stands 8 1/2" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Joseph Schneider Haus Museum - Kitchener, ON

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