Red Where? A Collection of Earthenware Pottery

Discover the Historic Odessa Foundation’s collection of redware pottery on display now through mid-October in the historic Bank Building on the corner of Second and Main Streets in Odessa. These utilitarian vessels included plates, platters, bowls, jugs, jars, mugs, cake and butter molds, and even flower pots. The forms indicated that the wares were meant for everyday use. Many of the wares were used in the open hearth as evidenced by their blackened bottoms.
Potters typically threw their wares by hand or on a wheel and decorated the surfaces with diluted clay of a different color called slip. Other decorative devises have included stamping, stenciling, scratching, and rouletting. Glazes were also added as decoration and as a method of making the ware impervious to liquid.
Redware is a low-fired earthenware made from local river bed clay and therefore was relatively inexpensive for the 18th and 19th century American market. Potteries could be found in the Mid-Atlantic and New England states. With the invention of plastics and other mediums, the use of redware was reduced to the point of the exhibit title question, red-where?