Extremely Rare Signed H.A. Rhodenbaugh, Akron, Ohio Presentation Harvest Jug

Fall 2021 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 110

Price Realized: $1,140.00

($950 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.

Fall 2021 Auction Catalog

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Extremely Rare and Important Glazed Stoneware Presentation Harvest Jug, Inscribed "B.B. Shutts," Signed "H.A. Robenbaugh(sic) 6th Warb(sic) AKRON. O," H.A. Rodenbaugh, Akron, OH, circa 1885, domed form with wide and narrow pouring spouts, button finial, and twisted handle featuring tripartite, root-like terminals. Surface covered in a mustard-brown glaze with darker brown glaze to handle. Base with incised H.A. Rodenbaugh signature, indicating his pottery location in Akron's 6th ward. Front with incised presentation inscription, "B.B. Shutts.," above an incised floral motif depicting a daisy emanating from a leafy stem. Benjamin Babcock Shutts, clearly the B.B. Shutts of this jug, was a distiller and engineer. Born in Vermont in the early 1830's, his family settled in Cleveland when he was a child. In 1857 he married Mary Pollock in Cleveland and by 1870 they moved to Clinton County, Iowa, where Shutts practiced the distiller's trade. Mary appears without her husband in the 1880 census and it's possible that Shutts was working on the railroad at that time. By the late 19th century the couple relocated back to Cleveland, where they died in the 1910's. This jug could have been made in relation to Shutts' distilling trade or in his capacity as a railroad man; the Kirkpatrick Brothers of Anna Pottery, for instance, frequently made objects for railroad workers. Featuring distinctive handle construction and two-color glaze, Rodenbaugh's harvest jugs are rarely found signed, making this example an important basis for future attribution. Larger spout entirely missing. Small chips to smaller spout. A faint line to base of smaller spout. H 12 1/4".