Monumental Ten-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Profuse Cobalt Clover, Chainlink, and Wheelbarrow Decorations, Baltimore, MD origin, circa 1840, ovoid jar with squared rim and vertical open handles, lavishly-decorated on the front and reverse with a large triple-stemmed flowering plant extending from base to shoulder. One side depicts the plant bearing classic Baltimore clover designs and the other side depicts a clover variant resembling wisteria, another popular regional motif. A highly unusual design of two wheelbarrows descending a hill to the base of each plant appears on opposing sides below the handles. Shoulder decorated on each side with a brushed cobalt band above a series of chain links. Circular cobalt brushwork highlights the handle terminals. Impressed "10" within a dashed circular border. Featuring an imposing size and unusual double-handled form, this jar is among the most heavily-decorated examples of Baltimore clover-decorated stoneware known. Putting this work in a class unto itself is the addition of wheelbarrow motifs flanking the plants, images which speak to the vessel's use in an agrarian context on a Virginia farm. While the vessel's exact purpose is unknown, its special size may relate it to the large "plantation jars" produced in alkaline-glazed ware further South. Provenance: Originally owned by the Coons Family, North Cliff Farm, Culpeper, VA; later owned by a Charlottesville, VA lady; Jeffrey S. Evans & Associates Auctions, Nov. 14, 2009, lot 20. One handle professionally-restored. Otherwise excellent condition with the following minor flaws: a vertical in-the-firing glaze drip to one side, some staining, minor base chips, and an area of short tight lines from rim. H 19".
