Extremely Rare Salt-Glazed Stoneware Snake Jug with Profuse Cobalt and Albany Slip Decoration, Incised "little Brown Jug / by Anna Pottery / Jan 22 1885," Wallace and Cornwall Kirkpatrick, Anna, Illinois, 1885, ovoid jug with tooled spout, scalloped carving to foot, and highly unusual chip-carved ovals around its body. Handle in the form of a snake coiled around the neck of the jug. Excellent detail to snake, including heavy scaling to body, flattened head with poison glands, bulging eyes, and incised mouth. Body of snake profusely-decorated with alternating bands of vibrant cobalt slip and amber-colored Albany slip. Head, eyes, and mouth with additional cobalt decoration, interspersed with Albany slip accents. Jug is incised with the cobalt-highlighted inscription "little Brown Jug / By Anna Pottery / Jan 22 1885". This jug is the first salt-glazed "little brown jug" by the Kirkpatricks we have seen. Its color and profuse slip application are visually stunning. The carved surface is also highly unusual, a decorative treatment that can also be found on the important Albany-slip-glazed "High Water Flask," pictured on pages 63-65 of Pottery, Politics, Art: George Ohr and the Brothers Kirkpatrick, by Richard D. Mohr. This example is certainly one of the finest Anna Pottery little brown jugs known. Provenance: A recently-discovered example, found in the Midwestern U.S. Excellent condition with minor base wear. H 5 1/2".
