Outstanding Stoneware Log Cabin Bank att. Thomas Haig, Philadelphia, PA, circa 1846

July 21, 2018 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 249

Price Realized: $2,478.00

($2,100 hammer, plus 18% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 6 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 21, 2018 Auction Catalog

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Very Rare and Important Cobalt-Decorated Stoneware Log Cabin-with-Raccoon Bank, Inscribed "C. Cochy (?)", attributed to Thomas Haig, Jr., Philadelphia, PA, circa 1840-1855, molded bank in the form of a log cabin with two chimneys, paned windows, a door, and stylized kegs at each end, the roof with hand-modeled and applied figure of a raccoon. Surface profusely-decorated with cobalt highlights throughout and covered in a salt glaze. Underside with carved slot and the faint incised inscription "C. Cochy(?). An iconic Philadelphia ceramic form, such banks were produced by Thomas Haig, Jr. in stoneware, redware, and rockinghamware, to commemorate William Henry Harrison's "Log Cabin Campaign of 1840". Few examples produced in each clay medium are known. Harrison, a Whig candidate for U.S. President at age 67, was considered too old by Democrats, with one newspaper declaring, "Give him a barrel of hard cider, and. . . a pension of two thousand [dollars] a year. . . and. . . he will sit the remainder of his days in a log cabin.". Harrison's Whig Party turned this idea against his opponents, presenting its candidate as "the log cabin and hard cider candidate", a man of the people, who contrasted starkly with the elitist Democratic candidate, Martin van Buren. Such banks, which celebrated Harrison with their log cabin form and cider kegs at each end, continued to be produced in different styles into the 1850s, long after Harrison's ill-fated, one-month presidency, which ended in his death from pneumonia. Haig's cobalt-decorated cabin banks have long been regarded as one of the rarest, most distinctive, and most prized stoneware forms produced in the city of Philadelphia. Provenance: From a recently-surfaced NC collection, purchased by the consignor at Sotheby's, New York, Oct. 24, 1993, lot #197; includes Sotheby's sale sticker on underside. One chimney restored, typical of this form. In-the-firing fissures at cabin's juncture with its slab base. Old damage around slot in underside to remove coins. A minor base chip. L 3 7/8" ; W 2 3/4" ; H 4 1/4".