Unique Two-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Profuse Incised and Cobalt-Highlighted Floral Decoration and Girl's Face, Signed on Reverse "C. & W. Kirkpatrick / Anna, Ill / July 30, 1873," ovoid jar with tooled shoulder, semi-rounded rim, and arching tab handles, the front decorated with a profuse incised and cobalt-highlighted design of eight flowers surrounded by scallop-edged leaves. Meticulous incised veining throughout leaves and flowers. Underside of one handle decorated with the incised design of a young girl's face, with handle forming the girl's bonnet. Opposite handle with oval incised accents at the terminals. Reverse incised "C & W. Kirkpatrick / Anna Ill / July 30 1873". Rim with thirteen incised vertical slashes. Unusual lightly-carved vertical potting knife marks around base. Albany-slip-glazed interior.
This whimsical and lovingly-decorated jar is believed to be have been made to celebrate the birthday of a thirteen-year-old girl, possibly a Kirkpatrick relative, suggested by the incised face and thirteen slashes below the rim. Despite their commonness among other potteries' work, any signed jar form produced by the Kirkpatrick brothers is considered very rare. This example was made relatively early in the brothers' Anna operation, a period from which few signed pieces have survived, before the majority of their snake jugs, pig bottles, and other iconic forms were made.
The jar also exemplifies the Kirkpatricks proficiency at incised decoration, as well as their ability to use typical stoneware vessel features as clever representations. Just as a snake forms the handle of many of their jugs, a girl's bonnet forms the handle of this jar. The idea that this jar was possibly made as a family piece for a Kirkpatrick relative adds to its significance. Provenance: Ex-The Stradlings, New York. Exhibited: "The Kirkpatricks' Pottery at Anna, Illinois," Traveling Museum Exhibition, 1986-87. Large reglued section extending from rim on reverse, with thin cracks extending off from it, including one hairline which extends onto shoulder on front. A minor base chip. H 12 3/4".
