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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Christine Steingass, post: 13100742, member: 114460&quot;]You&#039;re right about the four gallons. I completely missed the 9&quot; measurement when I first interpreted the &quot;4,&quot; and looking at the proportions, there&#039;s no realistic way this is a four-gallon crock.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, that sent me down a different rabbit hole. I broadened the search outside American stoneware and started comparing European pottery, and German Westerwald salt-glazed stoneware looks remarkably close to this piece.</p><p><br /></p><p>The combination of the gray/tan salt glaze, cobalt-blue freehand floral/leaf decoration, horizontal cobalt bands, loop handles, and overall form is very consistent with Westerwald stoneware. More importantly, I found documented Westerwald crocks of almost exactly this size that are 4-liter vessels, including examples around 8.5–10&quot; tall.</p><p><br /></p><p>I also found examples with an incised &quot;4&quot; or &quot;4 L&quot; beneath/near the handle, plus a museum-catalogued Westerwald piece where a plain impressed &quot;4&quot; is specifically identified as indicating four liters.</p><p><br /></p><p>Four liters is only about 1.06 U.S. gallons, which makes considerably more sense for a crock this size.</p><p><br /></p><p>So I&#039;m withdrawing my original four-gallon interpretation completely. At this point I think there&#039;s a good possibility the &quot;4&quot; is still a capacity mark, but it&#039;s four liters rather than four gallons, and that this may be German Westerwald salt-glazed stoneware, probably early-to-mid 20th century.</p><p><br /></p><p>I wouldn&#039;t assign a specific maker yet without another identifiable mark, but the Westerwald trail looks much stronger.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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