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with this glaze, purchasing preprocessed flint dust from a distributor
in Wheeling, West Virginia. According to brother Q., he would
sometimes add glass to his mixture to alter the temperature at which
the glaze flowed.
Iron Sand Glaze
Finally, an alkaline glaze associated locally with the Craven family
was called iron sand glaze. The mixture combined wood ashes,
settlin's, and a dark red sand to produce a matte brown or rust finish
unlike any other in the White County potters' inventory. When
Cheever made this glaze, he collected his iron sand from a ditch about
four miles from the shop. According to 0_., die family mixed three
measures each of iron sand and settlin's with an unspecified measure
of ashes. Cheever's wife, Arie, noted diat ground glass was sometimes
added as well.
ALBANY SLIP AND OTHER "PATENT" GLAZES
Before 1895, the glazing process for White County potters was a
time-consuming operation involving the collection and tedious
preparation of unrefined local materials. This situation changed
dramatically with the introduction into the region of Albany Slip. An
unadulterated river clay found in areas of upstate New York, it had
the advantage that it could be applied directly to the ware without any
advance straining or grinding. The result was an opaque reddish or
chocolate brown glaze that was not altogether unpleasing in
appearance.
There is some disagreement among Meaders family members as to
the circumstances surrounding Albany Slip's arrival on the local
scene. As Cheever Meaders recalls, the family first received word of
the glaze while traveling through Banks County in 1895 or 1896:
I remember how we got die address of it. My oldest brother, Wiley,
Pa, and myself was coming from Banks County driving a team of
mules. He'd been down to his sister's twelve to fourteen days building a
house. And we come back up by the Hewell Pottery down there, and
Old Man Hewell was telling Pa and Wiley about it and giving them the
address [of the distributor].
Q\ Meaders has this contrasting account:
Our neighbor [who] lived right up die road here was named George