In the mid-1890s, the Red Wing and Minnesota stoneware companies started to replace salt glaze with a creamy colored zinc glaze, and the hand-drawn cobalt designs gave way to stamped markings.
One of the biggest advantages that zinc glaze held over salt glaze was in the quality. Zinc glaze (AKA Bristol glaze) was stronger, more consistent and less likely to show stains from lard and other contents. Anyone who has collected for awhile will tell you that they’ve seen a lot more pieces of salt glaze stoneware with stains than they have zinc glaze. In addition, glaze pitting caused by exposure to acid is much more common on salt glaze than it is on the stronger zinc glaze.
Another significant advantage of white glaze stoneware is that it could be manufactured and decorated faster and with less skill than salt glaze. Thus, Red Wing could make a better product and they could make it faster and cheaper than before. A talented artist was needed to decorate stoneware with cobalt leaves and butterflies, and that took time. But anybody could quickly stamp a set of elephant ear leaves on the side of a crock.
The stark white background of zinc-glazed pieces also lent themselves better to advertising stamps for companies looking to put their names on crocks, jugs and churns. In addition, the white glaze also made it easier for people to tell how well they cleaned a piece of stoneware after using it.
Small white-glazed stoneware pieces were first available for purchase in 1895 according to Union Stoneware Company price lists. Less than a year later, the Oct. 1, 1896 Union Stoneware price lists offered more white glazed pieces, but still nothing larger than a 20 lb. bailed jar with lid. But by the time 1897 rolled around, the Red Wing and Minnesota Stoneware companies were turning out huge amounts of quality zinc-glazed wares, including pieces sized 20 gallons and larger.
Transition Items
Transition items sized 2 gallons and up were made with either the Albany slip interior that was originally used in salt glaze production, or the same white zinc glaze that coated the outside of the piece.
Many of these larger transition pieces aren’t signed, but they can be easily identified as Red Wing due to these decorations. Signed examples bear an ink-stamped “Minnesota Stoneware” or “Union Stoneware” oval, and scarce examples exist with the “Red Wing Stoneware Company” stamp impressed into the clay.
“Elephant Ear” Leaves
Since hand-drawn decorations required a skilled artist, took longer to apply and came with slight inconsistencies, they were soon replaced by ink-stamped decorations that nearly any laborer could apply.
The first style of ink stamp decoration to be used is referred to as “Elephant Ear” leaves by collectors. The leaves came in three sizes; the smallest was typically reserved for 2 gallon crocks, churns and Ice Water coolers. The middle size typically is found on 4 gallon Success Filters and 3 and 4 gallon crocks, jugs, Ice Water coolers and churns, but can also be found on some 5 and 6 gallons churns, as well. The largest pair of Elephant Ear leaves is found on crocks, jugs, churns and Ice Water coolers sized 5 gallons and up. Large crocks, usually 15 gallons and up, can be found with either one or two sets of Elephant Ear leaves. This decoration was usually applied in black ink, although examples in the 2 through 6 gallon sizes were also made in blue.
Ink-stamped capacity numerals were also introduced at this time, starting with sizes 2 through 6 gallons. Cobalt numerals 8 and higher were still applied by hand until replaced by ink stamps. Elephant Ear crocks that were 25 and 40 gallons in size weren’t likely ordered as often, because ink stamps for those sizes weren’t introduced until the Elephant Ear decoration was phased out – likely sometime before 1906.
Some Elephant Ear pieces can even be found with merchant advertising. Highly desired by collectors, they usually bring strong prices when sold.
Birch Leaves
Birch leaves were the second ink-stamped decoration Red Wing created. It’s unknown what year they were introduced, but they and Elephant Ear leaves were probably used simultaneously for at least a short time in the early 1900s.
These came in two sizes; the smaller is about 4 ¾ inches from tip to stem, and usually found on pieces 2 through 4 gallons in size. The larger leaves measure 6 ¼ inches from tip to stem, and were typically used on larger pieces. Generally speaking, most pieces sized 12 gallons and smaller only have one set of birch leaves, while pieces 15 gallons and larger often have two pairs of leaves. The decoration was applied in black or blue ink.
Cobalt capacity numerals were still applied by hand on the earliest 25 and 40 gallon birch leaf crocks, but finally ink stamps were made for those sizes and 50 gallon crocks, which Red Wing began offering during that time. (Although a 60 gallon birch leaf crock is illustrated in the company literature, an actual example has yet to surface.) Some 50 gallon examples have three sets of birch leaves on them. Red Wing also added a hole for a spigot and its “Ice Water” stamp on large crocks sized 12 through 50 gallons.
A higher number of merchants began ordering stoneware that advertised their business during this time, but since a far greater quantity of small pieces were made with advertising, the supply of large items that have both birch leaves and merchant advertising on them continue to outweigh the demand.
Red Wing
In 1909, the birch leaf stamp decoration was replaced with the iconic red wing stamp that most people associate with Red Wing stoneware.
The early red wing came in two sizes – 4 3/8 inches and 6 inches in length. The size of wing used depended on the type of piece, its size and the time in which it was made. At first anything 5 gallons and larger usually had a 6 inch wing. But by the end of stoneware production a 2 ½ inch wing was used on pieces as large as 10 gallons, the medium size was used on crocks as large as 20 gallons, and the 6 inch wing was reserved for crocks sized 25 gallons and larger. It’s assumed that the wing size was reduced due to cost and availability, as Red Wing used uranium to formulate the red color.
Since the equipment used in stoneware production had greatly improved by this time, Red Wing was able to expand the line of products it offered. Items like packing jars, applesauce jars and ball lock jars were being made in sizes 3 through 5 gallons and decorated with the red wing. In 1915, the company received a patent for metal bail handles that were placed on crocks that usually ranged between 4 and 30 gallons in size, and also churns.
