Rare Richard Remmey, Philadelphia, Stoneware Bank Inscribed "Jesse Leister / 1872" w/ Elaborate Floral Decoration

July 18, 2015 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 505

Price Realized: $2,990.00

($2,600 hammer, plus 15% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 9 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 18, 2015 Auction Catalog

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Rare Cobalt-Decorated Stoneware Bank, Inscribed "Jesse Leister / 1872", attributed to Richard C. Remmey, Philadelphia, PA, highly-ovoid form with footed base, heavily-tooled shoulder, and stepped finial with rounded tip, the front featuring the incised and cobalt-highlighted inscription "Jesse Leister / 1872". Horizontal coin slot at shoulder. Front decorated with a two-stemmed cobalt plant emanating from the base. Reverse with two drooping flowers extending from leafy stems. Additional small leafy brushwork throughout bank. The recipient of the bank is probably the Jesse Leister listed in the 1870 census as a nine-year-old schoolboy living in the same Philadelphia city ward as the Remmey shop. He was about eleven years old when the bank was gifted to him. Banks remain one of the most desirable of all stoneware forms produced in early America. Most were not made as standard production items, but rather as specially-ordered presentation pieces. The fact that most stoneware banks needed to be broken to retrieve the money inside has increased their rarity. A fine example from Philadelphia's premier stoneware operation. Base chips. Small, in-the-firing circular contact mark to side of bank. X-shaped hairline to shoulder. H 4 3/4".