HUGH SMITH & CO. Alexandria Stoneware Jar

July 17, 2010 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 211

Price Realized: $1,840.00

($1,600 hammer, plus 15% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 14 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.

July 17, 2010 Auction Catalog

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Extremely Rare Half-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Cobalt Floral Decoration, Stamped "HUGH SMITH & CO.," Alexandria, VA origin, circa 1820, ovoid jar with rounded foot and rolled rim, decorated with a stylized floral design, having a hollowed blossom extending from a leaved stem and surrounding the impressed mark of Alexandria merchant, Hugh Smith. This mark, which reads "HUGH SMITH & CO." is enclosed within an impressed rectangular border of leaf-like shapes. Typical of Alexandria stoneware, additional brushed cobalt leaves extend from the central blossom. Additionally impressed on the underside with a highly unusual capital "T" within a serrated border, possibly for African-American slave potter, Thomas Valentine. The mark "HUGH SMITH & CO." is one of the rarest Alexandria stoneware signatures known, possibly rivaling the elusive "J. SWANN / ALEXA" mark of potter, John Swann. This jar is the first example of Hugh Smith & Co stoneware we have offered, and one of the finest examples of Alexandria stoneware to be offered anywhere recently. Provenance: From a thirty year VA collection. As-made condition with a 1" very faint Y-shaped line on side of jar, which does not extend through to interior. H 8".