I found this great little red clay pottery pot in Maine a few years back and it continues to amuse me. It has an appealing patinated surface and an unusual thrifty make-do repair, typical of pieces found in New England. I believe it was made in Massachusetts in the mid-1800s and measures 6″ high, with a top diameter of 5″. When the pot cracked, no doubt due to excessive use, an iron band was slipped over the neck, but had to be made wide enough to clear the slightly flared ridge. So to tighten the band and seal the crack, five hand forged square nails were wedged between the metal band and the outside wall of the pot, forming a snug seal. This novel repair certainly did the trick to make the pot function once again and also inadvertently transformed it from a plain vessel into a folksy curiosity.
Tags: American, metal band, pottery
Fantastic, moving and funny.
Thank you
Oh My….sadly that is something I would have done!!! Must assume that I share DNA with the improviser of that repair. Clearly that is the kind of ingenuity that blazed the Oregon Trail!
It must have amused many people over the years, because here it is, still with us. Not only did the person who fixed it decide to keep it, but so did everyone else who came into possession of it. I love it – I can imagine my grandfather having done something like that.
That’s an original make do repair if there ever was one! Thanks for showing this one, really made do.