Different Crockery Choices To Fit Your Personal Style

As you read the article, you will see information that you will need to make your choice for your crockery.

While it is impossible to produce an exhaustive list of choices, below are two styles of crockery that come in both antique pieces and antique designs. One is utilitarian and chunky while the other is delicate and neo-classical. Both have become household names for their respective styles. They are Red Wing pottery and Wedgwood china.

Red Wing pottery is the product of German farmers. These farmers settled in and around Red Wing, Minnesota in the middle of the 19th century. When they were not working on their farms, they would gather the local clay and fashion it into thick farm crockery such as butter churns, storage crocks, jugs, water coolers, and mixing bowls.

Today, Red Wing style pottery also comes in plates, mugs, and cups. Red Wing is first noticeable by the thickness of its crockery. These pieces were built to last. The next distinctive feature is the color. Since these items were for practical, rather than decorative, purposes they are generally the color of the original clay, light gray or brown.

The glaze of Red Wing pottery is created by thrown salt into the kiln as the pottery is baking. It preserves the original color of the clay and creates a slightly pitted surface. The crockery is decorated with simple designs in blue cobalt and, of course, the distinctive red wing stamp.

Wedgwood pottery is completely different from Red Wing pottery. It was first designed in England at the height of the age of Enlightenment and faithfully adheres to that age's style of simplistic beauty. Most Wedgwood patterns are based on neo-classical motifs. Wedgwood patterns are also unique in that that they are rarely discontinued.

There are some instances of a daughter inheriting her mother's wedding china and still being able to replace a missing plate or a chipped cup 40 years later. The Wedgwood tradition is all about innovation. Joseph Wedgwood, who opened his first workshop in 1759, was elected to the Royal Society for his work on regulating and measuring the heat of kilns. He also created a new line of stoneware called Jasper Ware. It is known for being both thin and durable, a combination previously unknown. Even after over two hundred years of production, Jasper Ware is still created with the same formula thought up by Joseph Wedgwood. He also created two other lines of crockery, Queen's Ware and Black Basalt. The latter was especially popular for its ability to mimic ancient Etruscan and Greek pottery.

So whether you are looking for thick or thin, primitive or pretentious, you should be able to find your ideal crockery through either the Red Wing or the Wedgwood lines.