Early BELL, Strasburg or Winchester, VA Stoneware Crock

July 17, 2010 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 54

Price Realized: $517.50

($450 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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Very Rare Two-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Cobalt Tulip Decoration, Stamped "BELL," probably Samuel Bell, Winchester or Strasburg, VA, circa 1840, ovoid jar with tall flaring collar and ribbed lug handles. Decorated with a brushed cobalt tulip design on the front and back, depicting open blossoms and solid buds sprouting from a multi-leaved stem. Impressed under one handle with the mark "BELL" in a small-sized font, below a distinctive raised-face two-gallon capacity mark. We have seen this previously-undocumented small-sized "BELL" mark on a few other pieces over the last several years. The unusual raised-face capacity mark, found on the earliest Samuel Bell stoneware, indicates the jar was likely made by him in Winchester, or early during his career in Strasburg. This idea is further corroborated by the distinctive tulip design, which is also consistent with Samuel Bell stoneware. One of the rarest examples of Bell family stoneware to be offered in recent years. Provenance: From a thirty-year Virginia collection. Long flake to one handle. Small chip to opposite handle. 1 1/8" rim flake and a few other small rim chips. H 11 1/4".