I have decided to start posting pictures of a single object per week in the lead up to the opening of our museum exhibit at the Iron Mission State Park Museum. The exhibit should inspire a deeper understanding of Utah's nineteenth century potters, their struggles and achievements, and the diversity of their lives and works.
I'm going to post my working snapshots of items in public or private collections, archaeological artifacts or antiques. I hope that readers will find them and come to see the actual objects in the exhibition in May, June, and July at the Iron Mission Museum.
Here is the image for the third week of March, 2009:
This is a large storage jar in the collection of Utah State Parks. Karen Krieger, the Heritage Resource Coordinator for Utah State Parks, is lending many pieces to the show at the Iron Mission Museum. This is an unsigned and unmarked pot, but I think it is among the most attractive in their collection. The crock has consistent glaze and form with others that are stamped "Deseret Pottery" in Salt Lake City. The Deseret Pottery included a number of different potters through time, but I think that Bedson Eardley was most likely responsible for this pot.
The potter dipped the lip, rim, and shoulder (and almost over the handles) into a white slip, then playfully splashed a band of green glaze around the pot's midsection. All the decoration is under a lead glaze, of course. The colors are rich and the overall effect is beautiful. This pot is very similar to one in the collection of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers in Salt Lake City, which people can go to see in the Pioneer Memorial Museum there.
Stay tuned to more objects and images, previews of our upcoming exhibit! I hope you will come see them in person during the summer and stop by our Parowan excavations during your trip.
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