Exceedingly Rare One-Gallon Stoneware Butter Crock with Cobalt House Scene, Stamped "EVAN R JONES / PITTSTON, PA", circa 1875, cylindrical crock with tooled shoulder, semi-rounded rim, and applied lug handles, decorated with a slip-trailed design of a house in three-quarter view with chimney, door, and eight windows, situated on a stylized hill with three trees to its right. Cobalt highlight to maker's mark. This crock is the only example of Evan R. Jones stoneware that we have seen featuring a house design, a motif almost non-existent in Central PA stoneware manufacture. The decorator's use of a slip cup is additionally a rare treatment for this pottery, as the vast majority of Jones's ware was decorated with a brush. This crock's appealing decoration is enhanced by the vessel's small size and unusual butter crock form. The finest example of Evan R. Jones stoneware that we have ever offered. Provenance: From a recently-surfaced NC collection, purchased by the consignor decades ago. Excellent, essentially as-made condition with some in-the-firing bubbling to cobalt. H 5" ; Diameter (across top) 9 3/4".
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