NORTON KILN FURNITURE & SHARDS
  Below you will see some kiln separators dug at the Norton Bennington pottery site in October 1989.  The shards were dug by my children.  There is also a triangular trivet support that was purchased at Fonda's Antiques, it has her initials written in pencil on it.  Also pictured is a "test" ink well and other kiln furniture that was collected / dug by the Waloomsac River by my friend and collector Jim.  At this time the Waloomsac River was actually a brook that flowed westerly behind the factory.  Is this stuff pretty ..NO...but it sure is filled with history.  When you look at a Little Brown Jug you see the potters fingerprints where the pot was held when dipped into the Albany slip...On the kiln separators where the potter picked up a chunk of clay and squeezed it you see the actual impression of their fingers.  To me this is as cool as shaking one of the potters hands !!!

Please note these are all from Bennington, the ruler is from Worcester.
More tools of the trade
On display at The Bennington Museum
1877 view of Walloomsac river and the
Norton Factory, numbered 22,
 shards can be found along the river bed.

     Lately I have been facinated by kiln furniture, these "stackers" are not Norton but I thought really cool.  These were recovered many years ago from the Warne & Letts pottery site in Cheesequake, NJ. dump site, the site of the legendary Morgan Kiln. These kind of go withs give me a thrill......imagine what piece was separated by these stackers !!

Some more kiln furniture...Not Norton.
Potter Brenda Hornsby Heindl
A visual description of the making of Kiln Furniture
Another piece of kiln furniture.... 
known as a jug stacker

     I met a fellow collector on Facebook at The Early Stoneware Study Group Site.

He was generous to share some of these shards with me. They were dug from the Warnack Stoneware waster dump in Alton Illinois. The field trial was cut from an unfired bowl, late 1840's to mid 1850's. It was in two pieces when found so it was a used piece. Jug plug 1850's and the molded bowl noodle pads 1860's.

littlebrownjugs.com is a site dedicated to the History of Bennington  and the Norton Pottery.

But the stoneware manufacturing process and the tools in this process have always captivated me.

Hence the display of these shards from Alton Illinois.