Exceedingly Rare Anna Pottery Stoneware Pig Flask with Two-Sided Cincinnati, OH Advertising, Signed "ANNA / ill," Wallace and Cornwall Kirkpatrick, Anna, IL, circa 1866, molded flask in the form of a reclining pig with hole in rear, incised details to face and hooves, and anatomically-correct underside, the surface covered in a reddish-brown Albany slip glaze. Incised on one side, "Lanier Felps & Co / Wholesale Grocers / Give long Credit without int[erest] / and never charge for Packages / or drayage and allways / keep a little Pure Old Peach / in a hogs." Incised on reverse, "Barrett Dole & Co / Dealers in Pipes Tobacco Cigars / wood ware cordage & c / 28 30 32 Front St & 26 Walnut St / Cincinnati / O." Chin of pig features the incised inscription, "ANNA / ill," a highly unusual location and style of signature for this form. This early-period work is among the most heavily-inscribed Anna pig flasks known, and the first that we have seen featuring advertising for two different merchants. The reasoning behind this "double advertising" is unclear; perhaps the two firms were business associates of some sort. ("Felps" is a misspelling of "Philips," and the only year in which these two firms appear concurrently in the Cincinnati city directories is 1866.) The Kirkpatricks' incorporation of Lanier, Philips & Co.'s business terms into their classic slogan, "allways keep a little. . . in a hogs," is most unusual. Provenance: A recently-discovered example. Loss to one rear leg. Reglued 1 1/4" section to opposite leg. An in-the-firing contact mark (shallow chip) to snout. Two shallow chips to one ear. Other minor wear to ears. A tiny nick to spout. Two in-the-firing contact marks to body of pig. L 8 1/4".
