Question:

The crock is  23“ tall and has a diameter of 17“.

The crock doesn’t have any damage or chips or stains and is dark brown on the inside.

What might have this crock held?  I assume it had a lid and what material would have the lid have been? How would the lid have been secured for shipment?   found the crock in Kansas during my college days, so these must have gone throughout the US?

The real question is, how has something that is pottery, and certainly very heavy, survived since the 1800s?

Amazing, James

Answer:

You have a very nice Red Wing salt glazed butterfly crock!!  The crock had a stoneware lid.  The lids are quite rare.  Red Wing stoneware was noted nationally for its high quality in the 1880′s and into the early 1900′s.  These crocks were probably shipped in railroad box cars with straw as the material used to cushion them from one another.  In the days before refrigeration many food items such as meat and eggs were stored and preserved in these crocks.

In perfect condition and unsigned, the salt glazed Butterfly crock has a value today around $1500.  AL