John P. Squire & Co. Lard Bucket

A commercial wooden pantry bucket, constructed with vertical staves and secured by three wooden hoops fastened with metal nails. This utilitarian vessel was designed for the storage and transport of lard, featuring a recessed wooden base and a matching flat wooden lid. The top of the lid bears a green printed mark that reads JOHN P. SQUIRE & COMPANY / 10 lbs. Net. / KETTLE RENDERED / PURE LEAF LARD. The side of the bucket retains a partial multicolored adhesive paper label. The readable portions of this label include the characters SQU and R above LEA, with small text at the bottom reading U.S. INSPECTED / CONGRESS OF followed by illegible characters. The bucket shows evidence of where a wire bail handle was once attached.