Exceptional Two-Gallon Stoneware Jug with Incised Compass Decoration, Manhattan, NY origin, late 18th century, ovoid jug with footed base and heavily-tooled spout, decorated with an incised design of a circle surrounding a flower blossom, executed with a compass. Additional scalloped petals surrounding the compass-decorated circles. Decorated below with stems featuring scalloped leaves connecting to the flower blossom. Brushed cobalt slip highlights and impressed circle details throughout. Brushed cobalt highlights to handle terminals. Includes antique wooden stopper. The compass-decorated motif on this jug is a design often repeated in other American Decorative Arts fields, including furniture, fraktur, and textiles. The employment of a compass to decorate this jug was costly in terms of the time it took to decorate the piece. In this sense, the jug is emblematic of an early period of artisanship, before mass production with quicker decorative treatments were employed in America. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, purchased by the consignor decades ago. Painted restoration to a crack(?) in lower handle terminal. A smooth 1 7/8" flake to base on reverse, which appears to be in-the-firing. Two other minor base chips. An in-the-firing surface chip / contact mark to front, below one stem. Some staining. H 14 1/2".