Butter Crocks Joining Ranks of Kitchen Collectibles

A mainstay of American kitchens for generations, butter crocks are making a comeback with collectors.

Antiques shows featuring the wares of a large number of dealers provide the best bet for finding butter crocks, according to Country Living magazine. But ceramics dealers and shops that specialize in 18th and 19th century antiques will sometimes have a few in stock. Some dealers will keep an eye out for them if they know a customer has a special interest.

Collectors can expect to pay $100 to $200 or more for rare examples in perfect condition. Pieces missing their lids or in poor condition can be found for about $40. Though no longer suitable for storing perishables, these items make attractive storage crocks for kitchen utensils or cachepots for potted plants.

Before the days of refrigeration, the tiresome tasks of churning and storing butter required careful preparation and high standards of cleanliness, wrote Wendy Lavitt in the January issue of Country Living.

Until commercial dairies began supplying local grocery stores with butter on a regular basis, butter-making was part of the domestic routine. Most households stored butter in small covered crocks placed them in the coolest spot available. When properly salted, butter would keep there without spoiling for several days.

Wooden vats covered with cloth or a makeshift lid served as the earliest containers for butter. These vessels proved difficult to clean, however, and their porous nature allowed grease to soak into the wood, causing rancid odors.

Redware crocks with tightfitting lids became available in the late 18th century. Price lists and inventories of many U.S. potters frequently included “butter pots” and “butter crocks” in 1- and 2-gallon sizes. Homemakers found these clear-glazed pots easier to clean, but they posed their own set of health hazards: Their interior glazes often contained toxic substances. However, the ceramic containers found their way into many American households because most people were unaware of these dangers.

By the mid-1800s, sturdy stoneware crocks with matching lids began to replace the more fragile redware examples. One- and 2-gallon pieces were available, as were smaller examples, with or without lids. The practical shape of these utilitarian crocks remained unchanged throughout the century. Manufacturers used creative patterning and decorative glazes. The wide variety of styles that resulted is a strong draw for many collectors today.

From about 1850 onward, differences in color and design became the determining factors in the purchase of a crock. Many potters cut lines on their crocks before removing them from the wheel. Others used quills or brushes to apply swirls, numerals and simple floral designs. Both merchants and manufacturers with products to advertise occasionally commissioned crocks imprinted with their name and address.

By late in the century, decorative sponged designs were popular. Butter crocks bearing green, blue or brown sponging were produced by the Red Wing Pottery Co. of Red Wing, Minn., among other manufacturers.

However, not all late 19th century crocks were highly decorated. Red Wing, for example, introduced an all-white butter crock in 1885 that was marketed as the last word in cleanliness.

Yellow-ware butter crocks became popular late in the 19th century. These pieces were sometimes slip-banded or imprinted with the word “Butter” or advertised messages.

Enamelware was introduced in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Easy to clean, this enamel-coated metalware was relatively lightweight and manufacturers used it to produce many kitchen items, including butter pots. Gray and white spattering was the most common decoration on enamelware. But butter pots have also been found in spattered shades of blue, purple and brown.

By the 20th century, commercial dairies supplied many grocery stores with butter, and urban families often owned iceboxes to preserve it. Rural households, however, still used butter crocks to store homemade butter, so crock production continued for decades. Among the active 20th century manufacturers was the McCoy Pottery Co. of Roseville, Ohio, whose butter crocks with embossed decoration were a staple of its line.