Joseph Rushton, son of a Randolph County, Alabama, pottery operator, came to Rusk County, Texas, sometime between 1868 and 1870. He may have worked for potter Taylor Brown before establishing his own firm, which operated between 1873 and 1900, producing both slip-glazed and alkaline-glazed wares.

This churn features the maker’s impressed initials and a five-gallon capacity mark.