Spring 2024 Stoneware Auction Retrospective
Our Spring 2024 auction was a truly landmark one, teeming with important, museum-quality examples and extraordinarily deep in quality. As a testament to that, this auction was our third highest grossing one to date, realizing over $1.75 million!
BARNABAS EDMANDS & CO. / CHARLESTOWN (Boston area, Massachusetts) stoneware jug with an elaborate incised eagle. This jug achieved the world auction record for Massachusetts stoneware, $180,000.
Leading the auction was an extraordinary Barnabas Edmands (Charlestown, Mass.) stoneware jug with incised eagle decoration, well-known to collectors for its appearance on the cover of the first edition of Georgeanna Greer's American Stonewares. Once owned by Greer, the famed Texas collector, it realized $180,000, a world auction record for Massachusetts stoneware--previously also achieved by the extraordinary BOSTON "Elesebeth Tarbell / 1806" jar in our Spring 2021 auction.
J. & E. NORTON / BENNINGTON, VT. stoneware churn bearing the detailed decoration of a prancing horse.
Selling for $132,000 despite restoration, a wonderful churn made by J. & E. Norton of Bennington, Vermont, was adorned with the detailed decoration of a prancing horse. This incredible example of New England stoneware broke the world auction record for both Vermont stoneware and Norton family pottery, a mark previously achieved by an extravagantly decorated Norton jar with a deer scene, sold in our Summer 2022 auction.
H. MYERS stoneware water cooler, made at the Baltimore Stoneware Manufactory owned by merchant Henry Myers and superintended by Henry Remmey, Sr.
Harkening back to our very first auction (held on July 17, 2004) was one of the most important surviving examples of Baltimore stoneware: a water cooler bearing an elaborate incised game bird and impressed with what was then considered a mysterious maker's mark: "H. MYERS." The years leading up to 2004 had seen elevated interest in determining the exact origin of this mark, which appears on a number of surviving objects of clear Mid-Atlantic origin; but it was our very own Luke Zipp who was able to conclusively prove that it was employed at the Baltimore Stoneware Manufactory owned by a local china merchant named Henry Myers. Even more importantly, Myers' shop was superintended by none other than Henry Remmey, a potter who had been raised in the high-level Manhattan stoneware tradition, and a figure Luke eventually put on the map as one of the most important in the evolution of American stoneware craft. (Here's an article on the story of Luke's discovery: H. Myers Stoneware of Baltimore, Maryland: A Research Retrospective.) The first time around (in 2004), this cooler brought $72,600, then a world auction record for Baltimore stoneware, at a time when Maryland and related Virginia stoneware were reaching new all-time highs. In our Spring 2024 auction, this extraordinary cooler realized $120,000, the highest price a piece of Baltimore stoneware has achieved since 2015, when the attributed Henry Remmey eagle cooler realized $483,000, still the world auction record for a piece of American salt-glazed stoneware! (Also worth noting, a "Morgan Maker / Balt[imore]" cooler with an otherworldly incised design realized $230,000 in 2013.)
An exceedingly rare and important new discovery, this stoneware jar made by the enslaved and later free African-American potter David Drake ("Dave") bears an incised owl design along with the inscription, "Eagle toed owl."
The privilege of presenting new discoveries to the modern world is by far one of the best parts of our job at Crocker Farm, and this auction saw an important new one made by a man who has become the most famous historic American potter: David Drake of Edgefield District, South Carolina. Commonly referred to as "Dave" after the preferred signature he used on his pots, Drake was recently the prime subject of the acclaimed and important traveling exhibition, "Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina," which originated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in September 2022 before traveling to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, University of Michigan Museum of Art and finally the High Museum in Atlanta. This Drake pot was exceedingly rare in that it bore both the incised decoration of an owl along with an inscription that deviated from his usual name and date: "Eagle toed owl." It realized $72,000. (The world auction record for David Drake's work stands at $1.56 million for an extremely important 25-gallon "Dave" stoneware verse jar sold at Crocker Farm in Summer 2021.)
A very rare turtle flask made by the Moravian potters of Salem, North Carolina, in the first half of the 19th century.
Moravian pottery holds a special place in the minds of American / Southern redware collectors, and we were very pleased to bring to market an exceedingly rare version of the well-known bottles produced by the Moravian potters in Salem, North Carolina: a turtle flask with a beautiful green copper-oxide glaze. It realized $48,000, narrowly exceeding another extraordinary piece of North Carolina pottery, a beautiful Alamance County redware sugar jar that brought $45,000.
Arie Meaders (Cleveland, Georgia, 1956-1969) peacock figure that sold for $42,000.
If not already the most famous family of 20th century American utilitarian potters, the Meaders family is rapidly becoming so. The artistry of Cheever, Arie, Lanier Meaders and their extended family has come to be looked upon with the same reverence afforded historic American potters', despite being produced in the mid-20th century and beyond. In a relatively brief period of time, we have seen Meaders face jugs and other works become high profile components of our auctions as prices for the best examples reach new heights. This auction featured an Arie Meaders peacock that realized $42,000; an Arie Meaders face jug that realized $32,400; an early Cheever Meaders and Lanier Meaders face jug that realized $21,600; along with other strong Meaders highlights. (This comes on the heels of important sales seen last year, including $48,000 for an Arie Meaders face jug, the world auction record for Meaders family pottery.)
"PHOENIX FACTORY / ED : SC" (Edgefield District, South Carolina) stoneware jar that was newly discovered and brought $39,000.
A common theme we have seen in recent years is our own inability to predict, at times, just how intensely strong interest will be in a particular object we are selling. Sometimes people incorrectly view the auction process as simply another avenue of sale--merely one method among many others that enables them to liquidate their object for cash. Quite to the contrary, the best auctions are places where true market values are actually created. Because this is a unique feature of the auction process at its best--something seen time and again at each Crocker Farm auction--this puts consignors in a powerful position when they avail themselves of this process. Put simply, when you allow us to sell your stoneware or redware, two things happen: At baseline, you have piece of mind that your piece is going to bring exactly what it is worth; but beyond that, you may see your object soar above previous established market values. A great example of this was the beautiful "PHOENIX FACTORY" stoneware jar (Edgefield District, SC) that sold for $39,000 in this auction. The consignor had recently found it for sale for a very small fraction of that amount and wanted our guidance. We advised him to purchase it and he quickly consigned it. But in our discussions with him, even we had no idea this example would soar to the heights it did. This is something we also try to impress upon people: Despite the unsurpassed understanding we have of the American utilitarian pottery market, when something is particularly rare or a subset of the market is particularly hot, we have no ability to accurately predict how strong the bidding will be when two or more extremely interested parties bid against each other.
Greensboro, Pennsylvania, stoneware spaniel figure, made by potter James H. Atchison for Frank Hamilton.
Western Pennsylvania stoneware was very strong in this auction, led by a remarkable spaniel made by James H. Atchison in Greensboro for Frank Hamilton (the "Hamilton" in the titanic potting partnership of Hamilton & Jones), which realized $26,400; and a Greensboro stoneware string holder that brought $22,800.
Jar by Thomas W. Commeraw (free African American potter of the Lower East Side, New York City) that realized $24,000.
This auction was full of exceptional highlights worth writing about, so in the interest of time, I'll close with a work by a potter now enjoying new levels of recognition on a regular basis: Thomas W. Commeraw. This auction featured a stoneware jar impressed "COMMERAW'S STONEWARE / N. YORK / CORLEARS HOOK." This jar notably achieved $24,000, despite being a more standardly produced Commeraw vessel. That strong selling price can be attributed both to the new national interest in Commeraw's amazing story, along with a great provenance of having been owned by the famed collector Georgeanna Greer. (The world auction record for Commeraw's work currently stands at $120,000 for a wonderful "COERLEARS HOOK" jar we sold in Summer 2023.)
10-Gallon Baltimore stoneware water cooler dated November 1839 that sold for $26,400.
As I said, our Spring 2024 auction was a truly extraordinary one, full of highlights worth viewing here. Our Summer 2024 auction will mark our 20th Anniversary of conducting stoneware auctions and we are now accepting consignments for what will be another exceptional sale. Thank you to everyone--consignors and bidders--for helping us present the very best in American ceramics auctions. It has always been a true privilege to do so!