Smithsonian Contributions - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

62
Unlike many other potters who gauged a vessel's diameter by laying
a stick across the cylinder's mouth, the Meaderses did not concern
themselves with measuring this dimension. Remarked Cheever,
"Well, no, [I've] got no gauge for making the width of 'em, wide,
but... I made so many I can just tell."
On the other hand, father and son did measure height. A simple
measuring stick fixed to the back wall of the crib had along its edge
marks for two-, three-, four-, and five-gallon sizes. Much earlier, the
Meaderses had determined the relationship between the height of the
unfired cylinder and the gallon capacity of the finished vessel as it
emerged from the kiln. Secure wim this knowledge, they marked off
the intervals on their height gauge (see fig. 19). As they pulled their
cylinders to the required height, flaring the rim out slightly, they
could be confident that the finished piece would hold the correct
gallon amount, or slightly more. The measuring stick at some point
had been broken off above the five gallon mark, so Cheever had to
rely on guesswork when he desired to turn a six-gallon churn (figs. 21,
22, and 23). However, little if any of this size ware was being made
toward his latter days.
In turning large ware, both Cheever and Lanier tended to cut or
piece their tops; that is, diey pulled meir cylinders up in two sections.
Cheever, for example, in turning a four-gallon churn, would first run
up a small cylinder wim an upper lip on it (roughly the top quarter of
the completed piece), cut it off wim his chip, and set it to his left on die
shelf running alongside the wheel crib. He then pulled up die
remaining three-quarters of the churn, rejoined the top, and "welded"
the two sections together with his tool. Tolerances, or differences in
diameter between top and bottom cylinders, could vary by as much as
an inch, since he knew the clay would stretch in the joining.
According to Cheever, piecing was an accepted practice of
longstanding among White County potters:
That's a very common thing to a potter. They do that in order to get
the top heavy enough for the churn to stand, to keep them from
warping about in the drying. And to get 'em big enough. I seen my
brother, Wiley, the Browns worked down here for my Uncle Bill
[Dorsey], just about all of'em done mat. I wouldn't make a big churn
widiout it. 2
Cheever had another reason for piecing aside from those
mentioned, and Lanier simply followed his example: "It's just a habit I