Question:
Hello, Picked up this salt glazed 3 gallon crock with ‘elephant ear’ handles. It has some minor chips. I’m having trouble identifing the mark on it, can you help. Also its’ value, it has no makers mark. Picture included. Thanks in advance for your help. Bob

Answer: Bob, they call this marking a lazy 8 target mark. With the ribs in the right loop, I have seen more Western crocks with this than Red Wing. Knowing that both companies use this decoration makes it a little difficult identifying the manufacturer. As far as the value goes, there are a couple of things that keep your crock in the lower dollar range. First is the decoration. It is the most common decoration found on salt glaze and therefore collectors either have one in there collection or want one that is signed. The second is the staining. Staining takes away from the beauty of the crock and it’s decoration. With all of this said, I would place the value on your crock in the area of $90 to $125. Al Kohlman