IMPORTED MANUFACTURED GOODS

vln''"toS

CROW

VILLAGE,

ALASKA 51

In addition to the cut can fragments,

two

sections of bucket handles

have

been cut for future use,

and

a single piece of cut sheet copper

was

found.

A

^{small coipT^er ferrule} apparently

was made

to fit over the

end

of of a small shaft or stick. It is decorated with a series of engraved parallel lines horizontally encircling the specimen and another series of shortparallel linesengraved atright angles to

them

(pi, 12, k).

Four

,22-caliber rifle cartridges

have

been drUled at the proximal end for stringing as beads to

form

a bracelet or necklace.

Fragments

of the twisted grass

on which

these cartridges were strung still are visible in the drilled holes. All of the cartridges were found in the

same

house

and presumably

werestrungtogether.

Another

cartridge of undetermined caliber is similarly drilled, has grass stringing

ma-

terialknotted

on

theinside,and

two

beads stiUattached totheoutside.

Glass

Four

pieces of

heavy

bottle glass

have

been extensively retouched for use as scrapers.

Three

are

made from

fragments of light-green glassranging

from

4to 6

mm.

inthickness,while a fom"thisafragment of

dark-brown

glass of similar thickness (pi. 12,g). In addition,

two

small scrapers are retouchedfragments of

window

glass.

Non-Eskimo Pottery

A

^{single sherd of ironstone china} with a purple transfer-printed floral design on one surface has been

worked

into a

round

shape for use as a labret (pi. 12, m). It has been grooved

m

^{such a}

way

that eachsurface forms alip to hold the labret in place.

Leather

AU

three fragments of leather in the collection

have

been derived

from

commercially prepared cowhide.

The

largest is 15 cm, in length, while the other

two

are about half that size.

They

are de- scribed here because all three

have

been prepared aspatches or re- inforcing sections.

They

are carefully cut,

and

rows of stitching holes surround the outer edges (pi. 12, /).

52

Non-Eskimo Pottery

The

excavations at

Crow

Village resulted in the recovery of 324 sherds of

non-Eskimo

pottery including 2 partially restorable vessels, a

cup and

asaucer. Allthecollectedsherds arefragments ofironstone china, astonewarevarient that

was

extremely popular duringthe 19th century. In spite ofthe uniformityof the ware, there is considerable variation in the structure of the sherds themselves. In addition to variable thickness, ithasbeen noted that

some

sherds are

from

vessels that were better fired than others, that

some have

a smoother glaze,

and

^thatexposure to the elements has resulted in differential surface deterioration.

Stone china, a type of stoneware,

was

first introduced

by Spode and became

popular because it

was

cheaper

and more

durable than porcelain. Its introduction

was

followed in 1813

by

the "Patent Ironstone

China"

developed

and

patented

by

C. J.

Mason and Com- pany

of

Lane

Delph, England, in that year.

When Mason's

patent expired, a

number

of other English potters

began

to

make

the

ware

(Blacker, n.d., p. 41;

Fontana and

Greenleaf, 1962, p. 92; Ormsbee, 1959, p. 3; Savage, 1959, p. 206).

The body

of ironstoneis amixture consisting of

China

clay, china stone, flint,

and bone

ash, glazed with boraxflint

and

spar.

The ware

isfiredto thepointofvitrification

and

isextremely hard (Bemrose, 1952,p. 16^;Savage, 1959,p. 19). Blacker

(n.d.,pp. 194-197)

and

others

have

notedthat theutilitariandurability of ironstone

ware and

its relative inexpensiveness

made

it ideal for exportin

huge

quantities.

The same

authorestimates that at thetime of ^vriting (in the 1920's) fully one-thirdofthe ironstone

ware made

in

England was

exported. This included not only tableware

but

also insulators

and

toilet fixtures.

American

potters apparently

began

to

make

ironstone

ware

in the 1870's (Barber, 1893, p. 200;

Fontana and

Greenleaf, 1962,p.93).

The

remarkable qualities of ironstone resulted in its being used extensively

by

theUnitedStates

Army which

carrieditthroughoutthe

American

westasthe various military postswereestablished (Fontana

and

Greenleaf, 1962, p. 92). Since these

same

qualities

would

recom-

mend

the

ware

to distributors

and

traders providing goods of Euro-

pean and American manufacture

to trading posts in Alaska, it is not surprising to find ironstonechina in the

Crow

Village site.

The

collection of

non-Eskimo

pottery can be classified

most

satis- factorfly according to the tliree types of surface treatment: undeco- rated white ware, transfer-printed ware,

and

hand-decorated ware.

The most common ware

representedisundecorated

and

white.

There

are 164 sherds of this utilitarianpotteryin thecollection alongwith 1

nearlycomplete cup.

Only

rim

and

base sherds were saved; 98

body

vln'''sto*n°e*]

CROW

VILLAGE,

ALASKA 53

sherds were counted, noted as to house location,

and

then discarded.

This

ware

is remarkably uniform although there is

some

variation in thickness, firing,

and

smoothness of the glaze.

A

^{single sherd} has a drilled hole near one edge, indicating

an

attempt to repair a broken vessel

by

a

method commonly

usedwith traditional

Eskimo

pottery.

Transfer-printed

ware

is represented

by

53 sherds

and

¹ nearly completesaucer. Transfer printingis an English

development which

spread during the 19th century.

The

method, said to

have

been invented

by

theIrish engraver,

John

Brooks, about 1753, isrelatively simple.

An

engraved copper plate is inked with ceramic colors, a print ^is taken

from

it while the inkis still wet,

and

the paperpressed onto the ware.

The

piece of pottery is then

immersed

in water to floatoff thepaper

and

fired tofix thecolor (Savage, 1959, pp. 29-30).

The most common

transfer print is the willow pattern, 15 sherds of

which

occur in the

Crow

Village collection (pi. 13, a). This design

was

firstengraved

by Thomas Minton

for

Thomas Turner

of

Caughley

about 1780. This representation of a Chinese scene is a

European

invention derived

from

a

number

of Chinese sources (Savage, 1959, p. 31).

The

transfer-prmted

ware from Crow

ViUage tends tobe

somewhat

thinner than the undecorated

ware and

has a smoother glaze. In addition to the

wiUow

pattern, other designs, mostly floral, are represented

m

brown, green, purple, black,

and pmk

colors.

Some

of these floral representations are

combined

with geometric designs,

and many have

a distinctive oriental appearance.

The hand

painted ware, of which there are 98 sherds, is

approximately the

same

thickness as the plain

ware and

definitely thicker than the transfer-printed sherds. All designs appear to be

floral and are crudely applied (pi. 13, b). Various shades of blue, green, red,

and

piu-ple predominate. Painted lines around the inner

and

outer surfaces of the vessels, usually near the rim or base, are

common.

In addition to thewares described above, there are threefragments of

heavy

ironstone with a thick

brown

glaze that are probably frag-

ments

of a teapot. Also there are three fragments of kitchen bowls decorated with thick light-blue lines.

As

far as identifiable forms are concerned in plain ware, large

heavy

cups with sHghtly flaring sides constricting to a narrower flat

bottom and

with or without handles are

common. Fragments

of all

types of

ware

appear to be

from

cupsor saucerswith the exception of

two bowl

sherds.

There

are

no

identifiable plate fragments.

A

number

of flat

bottom

sherdssuggest large

heavy mugs

with straight sides

and

indented bottoms.

Some

of these

may have had

faceted sides. Saucer fragments tend to be

from

deep vessels with

smooth