Exceptional Three-Gallon Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Jug, Incised "Lm / June 10-1853," Dave at Lewis Miles' Stoney Bluff Manufactory, Horse Creek Valley, Edgefield District, SC, 1853, ovoid jug with stepped spout and applied handle with depressed lower terminal, the surface covered in a streaky, olive-colored alkaline glaze, overlain with heavy bluish-white rutile runs. Shoulder incised with the initials of Lewis Miles, Dave's owner at the time, followed by a date: "Lm / June 10. 1853." An incised horseshoe symbol and three punctates (indicating three gallons) appear above. Among Dave's most brilliantly-glazed vessels known, this jug was decorated with rutile (titanium dioxide) to produce the striking runs on the shoulder, handle area, and inscribed side of the piece. While rutile-glazing was relatively common elsewhere in the American South, it is considered extremely rare in Dave's work, with only a few examples documented. As Dave's oeuvre consists almost entirely of pieces with sporadically-poured or neatly-dipped alkaline glazes, this jug can easily be regarded as one of the potter's masterworks in terms of the quality of its glaze. In addition, its form is considered significantly rarer than the jars produced by this potter. A related 1853 jug (with restored handle) resides in the collection of the American Folk Art Museum, New York, NY. Fine condition for this form. Professional restoration to a thin circumferential crack around spout, just above the raised molding at the spout's midsection. Base chips. (The majority of surviving Dave jugs succumbed to significant damage to or entire loss of the spout during use. Handle loss was also common.) H 14 3/4".
