2 Gal. Stoneware Jug w/ Watchspring Decoration, New Jersey or Manhattan origin, 18th century

Fall 2020 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 85

Price Realized: $330.00

($275 hammer, plus 20% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 4 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.

Fall 2020 Auction Catalog

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Two-Gallon Stoneware Jug with Cobalt "Watch Spring" Decoration, Manhattan, NY or Cheesequake, NJ origin, circa 1760-1780, ovoid jug with tooled spout, decorated with a slip-trailed design resembling conjoined watch springs. Base of handle decorated with scalloped slip-trailing. Cobalt highlight to upper handle terminal. This jug features a particularly early style of spout construction related to works produced in 1740s Manhattan by Adam States, Sr. as well as the highly-important John Havens presentation jug by John Crolius, Sr., dated July 18, 1775, currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Also of significance is the jug's unusual triangular handle terminal, rarely seen in early American stoneware, but commonly found on pieces produced in Westerwald, Germany. This close link to the Westerwald tradition corroborates a very early date of manufacture. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, from a forty-year private collection. A thin crack across underside, forming a wide spider crack, which ends at the lower handle terminal. This crack includes a chip at the midsection on reverse. Minor chipping to base. A tiny firing crack to surface of spout. Typical in-the-firing flaws to surface, including a large, smooth contact mark on reverse.