Rare South Carolina Stoneware Jar w/ Initials and Inscription, "When This You See Remember Me"

October 26, 2019 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 8

Price Realized: $1,298.00

($1,100 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.

October 26, 2019 Auction Catalog

◀︎ Back to Catalog

▶ Login

Very Rare Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Canning Jar, Inscribed "When this you see Remember me / T M J," South Carolina origin, circa 1870-1880, small-sized, semi-ovoid jar with rounded shoulder, flared rim, and inner rim to hold a lid. Surface covered in a mottled olive alkaline glaze with varying degrees of luster. Incised around the midsection with the script inscription, "When this you see Remember me / TMJ." The incised poetic couplet on this jar is in keeping with the style of renowned enslaved potter, Dave, who potted for several decades in South Carolina's Edgefield District. Based on the jar's initials, it may have been made by free black potter, Thomas Jones, born circa 1852, who is listed in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census as working in South Carolina's Edgefield District at the "Jug factory" (Miles Pottery) along with Dave. Another possible maker is free black potter, Mark Jones, circa 1835, who worked with Dave at Lewis Miles Pottery and collaborated with him on at least one piece inscribed "Dave and Mark", now in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. (Mark Jones, along with his wife, Caroline, is listed as living with Dave in the 1870 census and is perhaps his son-in-law.) This jar may have also been made in Upstate South Carolina, where related canning jar forms were more typically produced. Excellent, essentially as-made condition. H 8".