Exceedingly Rare and Important Two-Gallon Stoneware Jug with Stenciled Cobalt Squirrel Decoration, Stamped "J.C. WAELDE / NORTH BAY", New York State origin, circa 1860, cylindrical jug with rounded spout, decorated with a stenciled design of a squirrel ascending a tree with slip-trailed trunk and heavily-sponged leaves. Stenciled squirrel motif is applied with sponge, creating an appealing mottled texture to the cobalt slip. Additional stylized, sponged ground below. Slip-trailed number 2 to shoulder, underscored by a series of dashes, which terminate into four spots above the base of the squirrel's tail. Brushed cobalt highlight to maker's mark. This jug is irrefutably the best example of North Bay, NY stoneware we have ever offered, and one of the finest depictions of a squirrel on American stoneware that we have seen. The use of multiple decorative treatments, namely sponging, stenciling, brushing, and slip-trailing, creates a wonderful folk art expression on this jug and other North Bay pieces. The wonderful figural decoration on this example is enhanced by the jug's exceptional color to the clay and cobalt. Excellent, essentially as-made condition with a shallow 1" in-the-firing flake to top of spout and an in-the-firing contact mark to right of squirrel. H 14".
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