Two-fold vessel

Two-fold vessels, also less commonly known as three-fold, are vessels consisting of two or three identical vessels joined together by bellies and spouts with a vertically or horizontally attached ear. They were used to store and carry food for people working away from home: in the field, in the forest, in a craft workshop or a manufactory. They were popular in many agricultural regions and were particularly useful in the functioning of a traditional rural household. The object in the Szczecin museum's collection is distinguished not by its form, which is typical of the two-fold vessels, but by the glaze used, coating its entire surface, both inside and out. The lead-tin mixture formula used gave a white tone after firing. This glaze, although popular and increasingly used by peasants in the second half of the 19th century, was still one of the more expensive glazes. Not every potter used them due to a lack of skill or the higher cost of raw materials, often increasing the final price of the vessel. Vessels glazed in this way were therefore relatively expensive, suggesting that they were used in wealthy households. Iwona Karwowska