Question:
I have a five gallon white salt glaze churn?, crock?, water cooler?? from my dad’s garage.I do not see it in the Redwing Pottery book I have, so took it into my local antique mall dealer and he could not identify it either??? It is shaped just like the churns, with no handles, but has the hole (like a water cooler) on the side? It is marked only with the 5, the large wing and Redwing Stoneware Co. Thanks for any help.

Answer: Thank you for the photo of your churn. You have a 5 gallon Red Wing butter churn with a 6 inch wing and ski oval. Looking at the photo with the hole on the side makes me believe that some one drilled this hole to make a lamp out of the churn. Now this is a guess as I did not see the hole from the inside of the churn or if the hole on the inside of the churn is glazed over or raw clay. Look inside your churn and see if there are any chips around the hole. When someone drills a hole in stoneware, they have to drill from the outside in. When the drill bit goes through the inside of the churn, it will chip the glaze around the hole. Also, if the hole was drilled after the churn was made, this inside of the hole will be a light brown (raw clay). If the hole was put in the churn when it was made, the inside of the hole will be glazed over and be the same white creamy color as the outside of the churn. Also the inside of the hole will not be chipped and should have an even glaze like the inside of the churn. If the hole is glazed over and no chips on the inside, then your churn was a special order and made for someone or some company which had a specific use for a churn of this size with a small spigot hole on it’s side. Hope this helps. Al Kohlman