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Brief description |
Earthenware cheese mold attributed to Bernard Klais, Mineral Point, 1858-1883. |
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Object name |
Cheese mold |
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Maker |
Klais, Bernard, 1801-1883 |
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Date |
1858-1883 |
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Dimensions |
7"H x 8¼" diam. |
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Materials and techniques |
Glazed wheel-thrown earthenware |
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Original location |
Mineral Point, Iowa County, Wisconsin |
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Current location |
Mineral Point, Iowa County, Wisconsin |
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Description |
Cylindrical earthenware pot with sloping sides, rolled rim and five rows of pierced holes. The interior is fully glazed and the patchy exterior glaze may be the result of clear lead glaze on the interior that was forced out of the holes during the glazing process. |
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History |
Mid-nineteenth-century Wisconsin earthenware potters like Bernard Klais of Mineral Point took advantage of the state's rich natural resources. They dug locally for their red and yellow clays, mixed glazes from lead mined in the southwest part of the state, and powered kilns with wood from nearby forests. Like many of Wisconsin's early potters, Klais learned his craft in his homeland--Prussia--before immigrating to America. In 1858 he established a pottery in Mineral Point in the area now known as Shake Rag Alley. Two of his sons, John (b. 1839) and Michael (b. 1855), worked with him to produce utilitarian earthenwares such as flowerpots, food storage vessels and roofing tiles.
This pierced pot was used to press and drain cheese. According to historian Mark Knipping, ceramic utensils used in home-based dairying were a major market for Wisconsin's small-scale earthenware potters. As the nineteenth century progressed and Wisconsin's dairy industry expanded, a factory-based system replaced domestic production of butter and cheese and large metal vats and cans took the place of small handmade pottery vessels. |
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Sources |
Wayne B. Horney, Pottery of the Galena Area (1965); Mark Knipping, "The Wisconsin Pottery Industry" M.A. thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1972); Kenneth Dearolf, Wisconsin Folk Pottery in the Collection of the Kenosha Public Museum (1986)""Bernard Klais Family" transcribed by Michelle Harder, Clark County, Wisconsin Internet Library (accessed April 24, 2007): http://wvls.lib.wi.us/ClarkCounty/clark/data/bios3/3013.htm |
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Related objects |
Additional examples of Klais's work documented in the Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database include flowerpots from the collections of Pendarvis (object # 1981.401.491) and a bowl and jar from the Kenosha Public Museum (object #s 73-100 and 71-92): http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wda,318 http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wda,1180 and http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/u?/wda,1174 |
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Owner |
Mineral Point Historical Society |
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Object # |
A77-82-1 |
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Rights |
(c) 2006 by the Mineral Point Historical Society. Contact the owner for more information. http://www.mineralpointhistory.org |
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Digital collection |
Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database |
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Digital identifier |
MP012 |
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Digital format |
image/jpeg |
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Type |
Physical object |
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Keywords |
Ceramics; Pottery; Earthenware; Redware; Cheese mold; Equipment; Tools and equipment; Furnishings and equipment; Food Processing Tools and Equipment |
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Date digitized |
2006-10-10 |
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Date modified |
2010-10-20 |
