<div dir="ltr">Lindsay, <div><br></div><div>The University of Michigan, Museum of Zoology fish and herp collections also used these brown glaze stoneware crocks. Carl L Hubbs, ichthyologist UMMZ 1920-1944 (collector of large numbers of fishes) purchased them to house over-sized specimens, sometime in the 1930's. (Many of these have since been replaced by glass buckets or stainless steel tanks.) I was informed of this by Reeve M. Bailey, Curator Emeritus (my mentor in fish collections curatorial technique) and who worked with CL Hubbs as a student in the 30's and later as Curator of Fishes until his retirement in 1981. Reeve referred to these as sauerkraut or pickle crocks and thought these were purchased by the "truckload" directly from the manufacturer in Zanesville OH. This made sense in that Zanesville is still know for its stoneware and had a local market for its product with the farming communities and German population of the US Midwest.</div><div><br></div><div> The other crock style (or a lid type that may have been mistakenly purchased) found in UMMZ fish collections was referred to as a "butter churn." Same brown glaze and style as those in your photo but the lid had a hole in the middle...and I can't remember how that was sealed, which was one of my duties while managing the UMMZ collections: mix batches of beeswax and petroleum jelly (50/50), remove the old beeswax sealant from the edge of crock and lid, and apply new mix to get a seal. (Not my favorite job.) </div><div><br></div><div>I have replaced these crocks with stainless steel tanks from two different collections over the past thirty something years. I suspect these were used in many fish and herp collections throughout the US.</div><div><br></div><div>Thank you for bringing up an interesting history in museum curatorial practice. </div><div><br></div><div>Lex</div><div><div><div><br><div><br></div></div></div></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 7:02 AM, Bloch,Lindsay <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:lbloch@floridamuseum.ufl.edu" target="_blank">lbloch@floridamuseum.ufl.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Hello,<br>
</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">I am seeking information on ceramic storage vessels used for housing fish specimens in the 20th century. Here at the Florida Museum we have a number of large stoneware crocks (see attached images) that were used for
oversized specimens before large glass jars were widely available. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">The crocks came to us in the late 1970s with the collection of Ralph Yerger. He obtained his PhD from Cornell, and we have reason
to believe that some of his initial collection may have originated there, including these vessels.</span><br>
</p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
</p>
<p>Our crocks are similar in form to those used for food fermentation (pickles/sauerkraut/meat), with a water well in the rim that could produce an airlock. In the museum, they were sealed with beeswax to reduce evaporation. It is unclear whether they
are repurposed fermentation crocks, or if they were made intentionally for museum curation. <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">They</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"> are molded, using a buff/cream colored stoneware clay, with brown
Albany Slip on the interior and exterior. The matching lids were wheel-thrown. </span>
They are 24” tall and 12” diameter. There are no maker's marks or capacity marks of any kind. <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Unfortunately, late 19th-early 20th century industrial pottery has not received
much scholarly a</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">ttention, so it is difficult t</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">o track down, especially without
maker's marks. </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"> </span></p>
<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
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<p style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">I'm trying to learn where these vessels were produced, and whether they were widely used or a Cornell-centered idiosyncrasy. Given the history of pottery production and fermented foods, I'm currently thinking that the
northeastern US is a likely origin, though the form has precursors in Europe, especially Germany. Please let me know if you have seen these or other similar ceramic vessels for housing museum collections. You may reach me off-list at
<a href="mailto:lbloch@floridamuseum.ufl.edu" target="_blank">lbloch@floridamuseum.ufl.edu</a>. Thanks for any help you can provide.</p>
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<div>Best, </div>
<div>Lindsay</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
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<div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px">
Lindsay Bloch, Ph.D.</div>
<div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px">
Collections Manager<br>
Ceramic Technology Laboratory</div>
<div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Helvetica;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:0px">
Florida Archaeological Collections<br>
Florida Museum of Natural History<br>
Dickinson Hall<br>
University of Florida<br>
Gainesville, FL 32611<br>
<a href="mailto:lbloch@floridamuseum.ufl.edu" target="_blank">lbloch@floridamuseum.ufl.edu</a><br>
<a href="tel:(352)%20273-1924" value="+13522731924" target="_blank">(352) 273-1924</a></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>*****************************************************</div><div>Alexandra M Snyder</div><div>Collections Manager-Fishes<br></div>Museum of Southwestern Biology <span style="font-size:12.8px">MSC01-2020 </span></div><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:12.8px">University of New Mexico</div><div style="font-size:12.8px">Albuquerque NM 87131 USA</div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px">PH.505.277.6005 OFFICE</span><br></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px"><br></span></div><div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,255);font-size:12.8px;background-color:rgb(243,243,243)"><u>Physical address for FedEx and UPS</u></span><br></div><div><font color="#0000ff">CERIA 83 Room 204 </font></div><div><font color="#0000ff">302</font><span style="color:rgb(0,0,255)"> Yale Blvd NE</span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__msb.unm.edu_&d=DwMFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=SveCV7zScaJQAeh8JAvBvEnpEi1h_S4Nsrptaf42-VE&s=lPK9uZ9yUU0giBH-EITHnUcBik30d6yXBlFlNszYGLE&e=" target="_blank">http://msb.unm.edu/</a><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"><br></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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