Storage Jar
Date1841 (dated)
Artist/Maker
Henry Lowndes
(active 1811-1842)
MediumSalt-glazed stoneware
DimensionsOH: 14"; OD: 10 7/16"; Rim diam: 8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1959.900.4
DescriptionStorage Jar: salt-glazed stoneware jar of elongated ovoid shape rises to slightly warped corded and rolled rim; two applied lug handles flank the body at the high shoulder; interrupted by the lug handles is a cobalt blue painted looped line or chain design at the high shoulder just below the rim; the terminals of the lug handles painted in blue; the vessel is deocorated in cobalt on one side with a large floral / foliate design and on the opposite side in cobalt script with, "Henry Lowndes / Maker / Petersburg Virginia / 1841".Label TextHenry Lowndes's exuberant slip-trailed signature is typical of his work and suggests that he took great pride in his wares. Lowndes was the son of potter Thomas Lowndes, who produced salt-glazed stoneware as early as 1806. When Thomas died in 1811, Henry took over the operation and ran it successfully until his death in 1842, one year after he made this storage jar. Stoneware and earthenware pottery was prevalent in American homes and businesses from the early days of settlement. Many items were imported, although some potters worked in America from the seventeenth century onward. American-made stoneware vessels of various shapes and sizes proliferated by the nineteenth century and were used for cooking, storage, mixing, and other tasks associated with food preparation and preservation. Larger jars were often used for hauling and storing water.Inscription(s)In cobalt blue script: Henry Lowndes / Maker / Petersburg Virginia / 1841
