West Tennessee two handled jar, marked "T.W. Craven", other side with a free hand star mark. Crimped medial flange joining both halves of the jar. Henderson County, TN. Condition – Old hole to mid-section with emanating cracks. Tight hairline cracks to handle and rim area (stable). 22" height. The Cravens were important potters in the Piedmont area of NC and are best known for their salt-glazed stoneware (See Smith and Rogers' Survey of Historic Pottery Making in Tennessee and Turners and Burners by Charles Zug.) Around 1829, Thomas Craven (b. 1775, NC) and his family moved out of North Carolina. He and three of his sons, Balaam, John M., and Solomon moved to Clarke Co. GA. His other two sons, William R. and Tinsley W., along with his brother-in-law, John Fesmire, moved to Tennessee. They can be found in the 1830 Henderson Co. census. Tinsley's known stamps are T W:CRAVEN or T.W. CRAVEN & CO. Tinsley W. Craven died in Henderson Co. in 1860. This jar is is similar to a slightly smaller example illustrated in the "Art of Tennessee" book, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, Tennessee, p. 123, illustration 90. Research courtesy of Carole Wahler.