Antique 19th Century Redware Folk Pottery Confit Pot; Lead Glazed, Mottled

Here's a very well-preserved, antique, redware confit pot that dates from the mid-19th Century. It has a bulbous shape along with two handles and is in very good condition! Colored with oxides and lead glazed, it's green with mustard yellow mottling inside and out. The lower portion of this pot and the underside are not glazed. Those parts have a dry, terracotta type surface with a nice, grungy patina that shows lots of age. There is a number 8 scratched into the clay on the underside. The bottom looks like it was brushed with an oxide back when it was made, as parts of it appear yellow in some places.

Thick-walled and heavier than it looks, this is a rugged piece of early pottery that served utilitarian purposes around the household back in its day. It wasn't considered anything special then but surviving pots like this now are scarce pieces of folk pottery. What makes this pot particularly rare are its handles that are still intact after the passage of more than a century and half! One has a chip on the inside but otherwise, this pot is not all banged up or cracked. The inside has some glaze worn off at the bottom from past use. Best of all, this piece has no repairs! Surviving examples of 19th Century redware typically do have some flaws which help authenticate them.

As for dimensions, this piece stands 7 inches tall and is 10 1/4 inches at its widest point. The opening measures 7 3/4 inches in diameter while the bottom is 4 7/8 inches across. It's a recent find we made while buying antiques out an old country home. You won't be disappointed in this!