55/753

This stool came from the Staffordshire/Cheshire border, and was identified by the donor as a dairymaid's milking stool. The rings around the side were throught to have been caused later when the stool was used as a roller. A visitor to the museum suggested, however, that it is in fact a saggar mould, used for making 'saggars', a heavy pot which would be filled with small crockery before being stacked in the kiln for firing. It may have been used for both purposes at different times.

1 milking stool: wood

MERL ‘Associated information’ form – 'Bought down from Cheshire by Mr K. Harvey from whom present owner obtained it for the museum. // This milking stool, used by a dairymaid, came from the Cheshire-Staffordshire border. The rings round the circumference are later and were caused by using the stool as a roller. // [pencil sketch]', MERL miscellaneous note - 'A note in our files, from a Gentleman who visited the Museum, suggest that this is actually a saggar-maker's mould: 'Another thing - in the museum dairying display is a "milking stool" from Staffordshire/Cheshire. Well, it may have been used as such in its retirement, but what it is really is a sagger-makers mould probably from Stoke-on-Trent. A rectuangular slab of clay would be wound round it to make the "saggar", a sort of heavy pot which would be filled with small crockery and stacked in tall stacks in the kiln for firing.' It is probable that it was used for both purposes, and this highlights the sometimes difficult task of having to specify usage for items that were perhaps used for a number of tasks [and not always ones even remotely to do with their original purpose!]'

Stool, milking, Mould