Maple Syrup Ewer

Two summers ago my husband, who is an archaeologist, excavated a maple sugar furnace dating to 1840-1860.  It inspired him to try making our own syrup, so he tromped through our woods to locate a small stand of sugar maple trees and built his own furnace (in the front yard of course) out of cinder blocks.  That winter we collected about 60 gallons of sap and boiled it down to 1 1/2 gallons of syrup.  It worked out so well we did it again this year, and I even made about 1 1/2 cups of maple sugar.  It's a lot of work, but worth it.

The only problem we had was the lack of proper serving ware.  Then a friend pointed me in the direction of Joy Bridy.  Joy throws wonderful stoneware pottery in practical shapes meant to be used, including bottles, mugs, storage vessels and even bird feeders.  They are then wood fired, giving them interesting and unique coloring.

She had some long necked ewers that worked perfectly for pouring maple syrup, as well as being lovely to look at.  When not in use, ours sits on display on a kitchen shelf.   This spring as the sun started filtering through the window, the interesting shadows cast on the ewer caught my eye.  This painting of it came together in one very satisfactory 3 hour sitting earlier this week.