[Nhcoll-l] Fish curation in early 20th century

Mon Nov 27 16:28:28 EST 2017

I have attached the Ruthven publication from 1911 that Doug mentioned.

1911. A simple type of museum jar for large alcoholic specimens. The
Museums Journal, 10:200-201.

Greg Schneider
Division of Reptiles and Amphibians
Museum of Zoology
Research Museums Center
3600 Varsity Drive
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108

734 647 1927

ges at umich.edu

[image: Description: Description: logocolor]

www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/rep_amph/index.html

On Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 3:52 PM, Bloch,Lindsay <lbloch at floridamuseum.ufl.edu
> wrote:

> Hi All,
>
>
> Thanks for all the responses to my request. Given Lex's fabulous
> information, I was able to hone my Googling, and came up with a journal
> note from 1900 that promotes the use of these jars.
>
> For those interested:
>
>
> A Sealing Stone Jar for Zoological Laboratories
> Author(s): J. B. Johnston
> Source: The American Naturalist, Vol. 34, No. 408 (Dec., 1900), pp. 969-970
> Published by: The University of Chicago Press for The American Society of
> Naturalists
>
> Stable URL: https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.jstor.org_stable_2453529&d=DwIFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=oq9GK2-x52aCifWtmFDynaMkJAD91HkjJ0i7koQSeCU&s=GW5qTJjUuz611vWo2cQl5lyk2G-bjFSLArioSPaOTZk&e=
> <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.jstor.org_stable_2453529&d=DwMGaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=pBJaTWex2i0NFe74C4Y2N_rkpEwXWK63SCXPRtQtDUk&s=mz41oR6hmTvf_s3YSGtn0m4mih0R4QdpIfPn3z_-HCk&e=>
> 
>
>
> I'm still curious to hear anecdotes about these jars, so keep
> those coming. Thanks so much!
>
>
> Best,
>
> Lindsay
> ------------------------------
> *From:* amsnyder210 at gmail.com <amsnyder210 at gmail.com> on behalf of
> Alexandra Snyder <amsnyder at unm.edu>
> *Sent:* Monday, November 27, 2017 12:42:38 PM
> *To:* Bloch,Lindsay
> *Cc:* nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* Re: [Nhcoll-l] Fish curation in early 20th century
>
> Lindsay,
>
> 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 since been replaced by glass buckets or stainless steel tanks.)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.
>
>  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.)
>
> 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.
>
> Thank you for bringing up an interesting history in museum curatorial
> practice.
>
> Lex
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 7:02 AM, Bloch,Lindsay <
> lbloch at floridamuseum.ufl.edu> wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>>
>> 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. 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.
>>
>>
>> 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. They are molded,
>> using a buff/cream colored stoneware clay, with brown Albany Slip on the
>> interior and exterior. The matching lids were wheel-thrown. They are
>> 24” tall and 12” diameter. There are no maker's marks or capacity marks of
>> any kind. Unfortunately, late 19th-early 20th century industrial
>> pottery has not received much scholarly attention, so it is difficult to
>> track down, especially without maker's marks.  
>>
>>
>> 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 lbloch at floridamuseum.ufl.edu. Thanks for any help you can
>> provide.
>>
>> Best,
>> Lindsay
>>
>> Lindsay Bloch, Ph.D.
>> Collections Manager
>> Ceramic Technology Laboratory
>> Florida Archaeological Collections
>> Florida Museum of Natural History
>> Dickinson Hall
>> University of Florida
>> Gainesville, FL 32611
>> lbloch at floridamuseum.ufl.edu
>> (352) 273-1924
>>
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>
> --
> *****************************************************
> Alexandra M Snyder
> Collections Manager-Fishes
> Museum of Southwestern Biology MSC01-2020
> University of New Mexico
> Albuquerque NM 87131 USA
>
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