Very Rare 18th Century Watch Spring Stoneware Jar with Incised "B," NY or NJ

March 23, 2019 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 128

Price Realized: $383.50

($325 hammer, plus 18% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 5 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.

March 23, 2019 Auction Catalog

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Extremely Rare One-Gallon Vertical-Handled Stoneware Jar with Cobalt Watchspring Decoration, Inscribed "B", Manhattan, NY or NJ origin, circa 1750-1780, ovoid jar with footed base, tooled shoulder, unusual squared rim with tooling, and applied vertical handles, decorated on the front, reverse, and lower handle terminal with a slip-trailed watchspring motif. Additional cobalt highlights to handle terminals. Incised with a large, crudely-incised "B" at shoulder. Literature: The scrawled letter relates this jar to a few important 18th century works from Manhattan and New Jersey, including an incised flowering urn jar (see lot 44, Crocker Farm, Inc., March 3, 2012) and a miniature Adam States, Sr. jug (see lot 66, March 25, 2017), as well as some sherds illustrated in Janowitz, "New York City Stoneware from the African Burial Ground", Ceramics in America 2008, figures 20 and 26. Broken and reglued, including wear and chips along cracks lines, rim chips, a few small base chips, and an in-the-firing surface chip to one handle and area to right of same handle.