Exceedingly Rare and Important One-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Impressed and Cobalt-Highlighted Federal Eagle and Incised Foliate Decorations, Stamped "C. CROLIUS / MANHATTAN, WELLS / NEW-YORK," circa 1800-1815, highly-ovoid jar with squared rim, decorated with an impressed design of a spread-winged eagle atop a stylized mound, above the large, early maker's mark of Clarkson Crolius, Sr. Sides of jar decorated with incised foliate sprigs emanating from a turnip-shaped base. Bright cobalt highlights throughout eagle, impressed maker's mark, and incised decoration. An excellent example of early Manhattan stoneware in all respects, this jar epitomizes America's growing independence as a domestic pottery producer. The impressed eagle on this jar is the first we have seen on an example of Crolius stoneware: a purely-American motif by a member of one of the nation's founding potting families. Possibly the finest signed Crolius jar known. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, recently discovered in the Northeastern U.S. A glazed-over, in-the-firing rim chip, measuring 1 1/4". Another small chip on exterior of rim and a few small chips on interior of rim. 3" vertical hairline at base, extending 1 3/4" onto underside. A 1" line at base, visible on interior and only partially visible on exterior, which probably occurred in the firing. A minor in-the-firing chip to underside at edge. H 8 3/4".
