Anna Pottery Railroad Pig Flask

November 3, 2007 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 163

Price Realized: $18,400.00

($16,000 hammer, plus 15% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 17 years old, and the American ceramics market frequently changes. Additionally, small nuances of color, condition, shape, etc. can mean huge differences in price. If you're interested in having us sell a similar item for you, please contact us here.

Auction Highlight: November 3, 2007 Auction | Anna Pottery

November 3, 2007 Auction Catalog

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Exceptional Albany Slip Glazed Stoneware Presentation Pig Bottle, Wallace and Cornwall Kirkpatrick, Anna, Illinois, circa 1885, molded pig bottle with hole at rear and incised hooves and facial details, further incised on one side with the inscription "St. Louis the future Capital in / Latest and most Reliable R.R. & R. Guide / To / S. Barbour. The King of Civil Engineers / the Prince of good fellows. honest Pious and Virtuous. strictly temperate and liberal / to a fault. never drinks anything himself / but allway keeps a little good old Rye / for his friends in a." An incised hand points to the spout at the end of the bottle. Further incised on the opposite side with a top hat, which reads "Greedy Trap," propped up by a stick, with a piece of bait underneath that reads "office." Bottle is additionally incised with a map featuring the following the landmarks: Anna Pottery, Mounds, Jonesboro, Kaolin, Carbondale, C & V R R, Grand Tower, Narrow Gage, Murphysboro, Cairo & St. Louis, I C R R, Miss River, O & M R R, G B I C R R, Centralia, Oolin, Vincens, Ohio River, Cairo, Cincinatti the Porkopolis, Dunleth, and Chicago the Corn Crib. This bottle is the finest example of an Anna Albany slip glazed pig we have sold, with an interesting allusion to temperance in the inscription to S. Barbour and a reference to politics in the clever incised drawing of a top hat; these were two issues in the minds of the Kirkpatrick brothers as they produced their pottery, though it is unclear what their actual stance on temperance really was. An exceptional example. Mint condition. Length 7 1/2".