Exceptional Redware Presentation Jar, Inscribed "Ann Frame / When this you see remember me / 9th mo. 28th 1818", attributed to Thomas Vickers, Chester County, PA, 1818, thin-walled, highly-ovoid jar with arching tab handles, the surface dipped in a yellow slip and incised with the name "Ann Frame" decorating the shoulder. Underside of left handle incised with the date "9th Mo 28th 1818". Underside of right handle incised with the inscription "When this you see remember me". Interior and exterior surface covered in a heavy lead glaze over a colorful, mottled orange and olive ground. The presentation redware objects from Chester County, Pennsylvania have been documented since the early 20th century, a testament to the importance of these objects to American ceramic history. Edwin Atlee Barber describes a closely-related jar in his groundbreaking book, Tulip Ware of the Pennsylvania-German Potters, written in 1903. That jar, which has been in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art since the early 20th century, bears the incised name "Abigail Stromberg", along with the inscription "West Chester chester county ist Mo. 7th, 1822". The jar to be sold in our March 19th auction ranks as one of the most important examples of Chester County, Pennsylvania redware to cross the auction block in recent years. Much of the delicately-potted, early work by the Vickers family is found with moderate to significant damage. This jar, significant in its own right, is made all the more compelling by its extraordinary condition at nearly 200 years of age. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, recently discovered in New England. Chips to one handle. Wear to rim. A shallow flake to underside. Some expected light wear to surface. H 9 3/4".
