Important and Possibly Unique Three-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Exuberant Slip-Trailed Cobalt Floral and Chainlink Decoration, Stamped "B.C. MILBURN / ALEXA," Alexandria, VA origin, circa 1850, exquisitely-potted, ovoid jar with flared collar, heavily-tooled shoulder and rim, and dramatic stepped foot, the shoulder fitted with highly unusual, oversized handles with deep circular impressions at the terminals. Jar is lavishly-decorated on the front with a slip-trailed vine extending from handle to handle, featuring elongated tulip blossoms and graduated, fern-shaped leaf designs. Reverse decorated with three large tulips extending between the handles. Large chainlink decoration around the shoulder on the front and reverse. Collar decorated with additional chainlinks in a draped pattern. Handle terminals surrounded with highly unusual, scalloped slip-trailed circles. Impressed under one handle, "B.C. MILBURN / ALEXA", below a three-gallon capacity mark. Eddie L. Wilder, in his book, Alexandria, Virginia Pottery 1792-1876, states the following about this jar's decoration: "The slip-trailed artwork on this jar is absolutely the finest ever seen by the author on any Alexandria pottery" (Wilder, p. 266). This outstanding jar is exceptional in both form and decoration, featuring exemplary potting, coupled with profuse and deftly-applied slip-trailed decoration. Among the numerous signed B.C. Milburn jars known, this example is believed to be his masterpiece of the form. A tour-de-force of potting and decorating skill from one of Virginia's most celebrated potters. Literature: Pictured and discussed on p. 266 of Eddie L. Wilder, Alexandria, Virginia Pottery 1792-1876. Provenance: A private Southern collector; Crocker Farm, Inc., Nov. 2, 2013. Two chips to very bottom of foot, measuring 1 1/2" and 1 1/4". An unobtrusive salt drip to end of one handle. A minor nick to end of opposite handle. H 12 1/2".
