This week I’m going to present another theme-based series. For the next five days I will presenting a series of photos that feature a prominent use of various forms of stoneware crockery as decorating elements.

My home is filled with dozens upon dozen of pieces of stoneware. They vary greatly in color, shape, size, and functionality.

When Charles and I first begin collecting stoneware, the “perfect” stuff was cost prohibitive. So we got in the habit of looking for defective items. There may have been a chip on the neck of a jug, or slight crack in the base of a pickle crock.

But we wanted these items as part of our everyday decor, we were not interested in them as investments. So slight imperfections, or signs of real wear and use, were of no concern to us. In fact, we felt it added to the charm of the items, as it was a testament to the fact they were used on a daily basis in old homes throughout New England.

I will admit, I do enjoy finding jugs and crocks that are stamped with a potters seal. It adds to the fun of having the piece. Sometimes, it also is evidence that the item was made in this region.

If you take a peek around the room in this photograph, you’ll see various stoneware items beyond the obvious ones in the window. For example, there are a couple more on the shelf on the cupboard on the left side of the photograph.

Also if you look outside the window, on the primitive shelf that sits outside on our deck, there is a small crock on the bottom shelf. We have the stuff everywhere, it brings us joy. That pleasure comes from knowing that each of these items has a story to tell, of the hands that held it, of the contents that it held, and how it served the family who owned it decades ago.

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