Churn

Creator

Charles Hermann and Company, 1856-1886

Date

• 1856-1886

Summary

• Stoneware churn, Charles Hermann and Co., Milwaukee, 1856-1886. Slightly ovoid salt-glazed stoneware butter churn with tall flaring collar and two applied lug handles. Three incised lines around midsection. Interior coated with dark brown slip. Turned lid in domed and flaring shape, glazed with dark brown slip.
• Stenciled in cobalt blue glaze: five-gallon capacity mark and "C. Hermann & Co/ Milwaukee, Wis."
• In 1856, Swiss immigrant Charles Hermann established the largest and longest-lived stoneware manufactory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As Hermann's dock workers shoveled tons of clay brought by boat from Ohio and Illinois, his potters and kiln operators crafted utilitarian wares such as bottles, churns, crocks and jars for sale throughout the region. Early Hermann stoneware typically was stamped with the company name and adorned with relatively simple cobalt blue glaze decoration, usually flowers or birds. Later examples were usually unadorned, featuring straight-sided walls and stenciled rather than impressed maker's marks. In 1882, Hermann entered a partnership with his stepson Louis M. Pierron (b. 1853) who became sole owner of the company in 1886. Hermann died in Milwaukee in 1892.