Desert Sands Pottery without glaze

Evans Pottery in Dexter, Missouri was a traditional Ozark pottery that traces its roots to the mid-1800s supplying utilitarian ware to mostly local customers. This is where the family members who became Desert Sands Pottery learned the trade. The interiors of vessels made by Evans were coated with a dark brown Albany slip - the Missouri Evans never used a clear glaze, inside or outside, on their products. The clear glaze was an Evans Desert Sands refinement but their earliest products only used the glaze on the interiors of vessels. It was the urging of the younger Ferrell Evans that convinced his traditionalist uncle Arthur to glaze the exteriors as well. The commercial success of the new look all but phased out unglazed ware. By the early 1960s, unglazed pieces were seldom produced.

The cylinders in the first picture stand 12" and 12 1/4" respectively with 3 1/2" diameters flaring to 4" at tops and bases. The small cylinder stands 4" tall with a diameter of 1 3/4". The vase in the middle stands 10" tall and features some unusual (for Desert Sands) tooling. Vases over 8" tall are rather scarce. The second picture shows a similar shape in various sizes. The tallest is 8"; the smallest just 2 1/2" tall.