Rare Stoneware Advertising Pig Bottle with Otard Slogan, attributed to Wallace and Cornwall Kirkpatrick, Anna, IL, circa 1880, molded bottle in the form of a pig with applied ears and tail, incised facial details and hooves, finely-painted eyes, and opening at rear. Surface covered in a chocolate brown Albany slip glaze. One side incised with the advertising for St. Louis merchant, John Gaubatz, which reads "John Gaubatz / No 115 Green Street / With a little fine old Otard in". Remainder of pig incised with a map of the Midwestern U.S., including the following landmarks: St. Louis the future capital, Miss River, Cairo, Grand Tower, Sandoval, Pana, Decatur, Mounds, Carbondale, Duquoin, Ashley, Centralia, Odin, Effingham, Matthew, Tolona, Chicago the Corn Crib, Ohio River, and Cincinnati the ancient Porkopolis. This newly-discovered pig bottle is the first example we have seen with a reference to "otard," a French cognac developed in 1795 by Jean-Baptiste Antoine Otard, in Cognac, Charente, France. An early, large-sized example with fine molding and crisp incising. Provenance: Recently discovered in Minnesota. Smooth, in-the-firing wear to end of snout. Chip to one ear. Chip to bottom of one hoof, possibly in-the-firing. Small chip at base of penis. L 8 1/4".
