Rare A. DOLLISON (Ohio) Civil War Stoneware Jar: "5000 men slain yesterday at Laurel Hill"

Summer 2021 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 138

Price Realized: $2,520.00

($2,100 hammer, plus 20% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 3 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.

Summer 2021 Auction Catalog

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Exceedingly Rare Civil War Commemorative Stoneware Canning Jar, Inscribed "5000 / men Slain / yesterday at Laurel / hill!," Stamped "A. DOLLISON," Armstrong Dollison, Vinton and Hocking Counties, OH, October 1864, ovoid jar with tooled shoulder and narrow mouth, the surface coated in dipped Albany slip and incised with the following inscription, "5000 / men slain / yesterday at Laurel / hill!" Impressed above with the maker's mark of Ohio potter, Armstrong Dollison, within an arched, wavy-edged border. The Battle of Laurel Hill, also known as the Battle of Chaffin's Farm and New Market Heights, took place on September 29 and 30, 1864 during the Richmond-Petersburg Campaign of the Civil War. This campaign involved the largest concentration of African-American troops during the Civil War and was fought largely through trench warfare. The battle saw combat between Union General Benjamin F. Butler and Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Richard S. Ewell. Declared a Union victory, this battle did witness 5,000 casualties (though not deaths, illustrating a misunderstanding on the potter's part). (A previous skirmish in what is now West Virginia is called the Battle of Laurel Hill and recognized as one of the first land engagements of the conflict; it, however, saw very few casualties.) An important stoneware relic of American Civil War era; relatively few American stoneware objects reference the Civil War, especially with such specificity. Shallow chipping to rim. A few in-the-firing base chips. H 8".