MARSHALL POTTERY BUTTER CHURNS

Marshall Pottery Butter Churns

Part of the fun of collecting an antique such as a Marshall Pottery Butter Churn is the rich and storied history you'll uncover as you begin your search. Marshall Pottery Butter Churns pre-date the rise of electricity and are a window back to simpler times when you didn't go out and buy your groceries but instead made them by hand. Marshall Pottery Butter Churns are not only works of art but testaments to expert craftsmanship that will be a welcome addition to your treasure of collectibles. While simple in its design, form and function, the charm of a Marshall Pottery Butter Churn isn't easily matched as you'll soon discover.


Marshall Pottery Butter Churns date back to the late 19th century when W. F. Rocker, a Kentucky native, moved to the East Texas town of Marshall to found Marshall Pottery Works. One of the reasons he chose this part of the country was because it was rich in the two ingredients needed to produce pottery: white clay and water. A man by the name of Sam Ellis bought the company from Rocker years later, expanded its production line and put his family to work making canning jars, crocks, syrup jugs, and of course, Marshall Pottery Butter Churns. Marshall Pottery Butter Churns belong to the family of hand turned pottery. Molding clay from a spinning wheel then firing it in a kiln goes back hundreds of years. Today, the process of making pottery has been modernized and updated with new processes and technologies, but this age-old practice of hand turning pottery is what the company became famous for. Marshall Pottery passed down the tradition of making pottery from master to apprentice and its Marshall Pottery Butter Churn is no exception. Still open to the public and operating out of East Texas today, Marshall Pottery and its skilled artisans are transforming the white clay of the region into treasured heirlooms.


At the height of its use, no one probably thought of a Marshall Pottery Butter Churn as a work of art. They were a simply a necessity in the making of butter, mostly on rural family farms. Churning is the process of shaking up whole mile (or cream) to produce butter. In essence, butter is the fat of milk. From the middle ages until the Industrial Revolution, this was accomplished by placing the milk into a container then agitating it by hand. Many configurations of churns have been used throughout history: end-over-end churns, the barrel churn, and the Scottish churn which employed a plunger, often called a dasher, to be moved vigorously up and down by hand. Like other churns, Marshall Pottery Butter Churns were crafted to physically agitate the cream until it was broken down to form fat or butter grains. Butter was then made from the cream that had been separated and then cooled. The creation of butter was an arduous task, requiring sturdy craftsmanship that Marshall Pottery Butter Churns provided.





By the 1950s and the advent of electricity, the need to make your own butter was pretty much relegated to the pages of history. Large company creameries took over the process, and instead of churning your own butter, now you simply buy it at the local grocery store. But the butter churn's obsolescence is what makes Marshall Pottery Butter Churns such highly prized collectibles. Because they are no longer used in the making of butter, Marshall Pottery Butter Churns are sought after treasures that harkens back to the days of the American pioneer. While some collectibles appeal to the eye, you'll find that Marshall Pottery Butter Churns most definitely appeal to the heart.