Extremely Rare Moravian Redware Bowl with Three-Color Glaze, NC origin, Salem, Bethabara, or Mount Shepherd Potteries, late 18th or early 19th century, deep bowl with rounded sides and flattened rim, the interior coated in yellowish slip, decorated in copper and manganese with large sponged crosses, and covered in a clear lead glaze. A band of manganese sponging additionally decorates the interior of the rim. The distinctive glaze treatment on this bowl was modeled after "tortoiseshell ware" popularized by English potter, Thomas Whieldon. While characteristic of redware made in Salem and Bethabara, Forsyth County, NC, this bowl is also closely-related to pieces excavated at the site of Bethabara-trained Philip Jacob Meyer, who had been banished from the Moravian community and established his own pottery at Mount Shepherd in Randolph County, NC. Meyer's Mount Shepherd pottery ran from 1793 to 1800. As the relatively small number of surviving NC redware pieces are found in damaged condition, this bowl's remarkable state of preservation is noteworthy. Provenance: A recently-discovered example. Exceptional, excellent condition with a faint 1 1/8" line from rim, a 1 1/2" scratch to interior shoulder, and some extremely minor wear to interior. Diam. 12 1/4" ; H 3 1/2".
