Olifantsfontien - Cullinan Pottery, Olifantsfontein, Transvaal, South Africa

Name: Olifantsfontien
 
Type: Stoneware Storage Jar
 
Year: c. 1910s–1940s
 
Set: No
 
Mark: Cullinan Pottery, Olifantsfontein, Transvaal, South Africa - Cullinan Pottery, Olifantsfontein, Transvaal, South Africa
 
History: This is a stoneware storage jar produced by Cullinan Pottery Works located in Olifantsfontein, a historically significant ceramics hub in the Transvaal province of South Africa. The impressed mark reads:
 
 
"CULLINAN / OLIFANTSFONTEIN / TRANSVAAL"
 
 
The jar exhibits classic utilitarian characteristics of early 20th-century southern African stoneware—thick-walled, salt-glazed exterior with a high-gloss brown collar glaze and a cream body below. These jars were commonly used for food preservation (pickles, jam, or dry goods) and often produced in large quantities for local and colonial markets.
 
 
Olifantsfontein pottery played a vital role in South African ceramics history, with Cullinan being one of the key names associated with commercial pottery in the region before mass industrial imports replaced domestic production post-World War II.
 
Flaws: Broken Piece on inner lip