Exceptional Glazed Redware Vase with Profuse Applied Bird and Floral Decorations, Signed and Dated "Anthony Backer / Winchester / Va / 1870," Anthony Bacher, Winchester, VA, 1870, flaring vase with scalloped edge and gadrooned foot, lavishly-decorated on each side with applied decoration of birds feeding on a flowering plant. Surface covered in a reddish-brown lead-and-manganese glaze. Shoulder incised with the date, "1870." Underside incised with the signature, "Anthony Backer / Winchester / Va." Among the finest examples of Bacher's work to come to auction in decades, this fan-shaped vase is noteworthy for its over-the-top applied decoration and exemplary condition. A total of five hummingbirds are depicted in various open and closed wing poses along with nineteen flowers. Bacher's sprig-decorated pieces are regarded as iconic works of primarily-Southern ceramic art, representing the most delicate craftsmanship of Virginia-made pottery from the 19th century. Noted Brooklyn Museum ceramics scholar, Arthur Clement, in his February 1944 The Magazine Antiques article, "Ceramics in the South," lauds Bacher's work thusly: "The pottery made by Anthony W. Baecher at Winchester, Virginia, from 1870 to 1887 is so well modeled and glazed as to justify fully his designation as a master potter." Because of the fragility of the applied work, many of Bacher's sprigged pieces, when found, have significant damage and/or restoration. This vase, despite being one of the potter's most heavily-decorated known, survives in unusually fine condition, and typifies the artist's flare for the dramatic. Literature: Illustrated and discussed in Comstock, The Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley Region, p. 175, fig. 4.271. Provenance: Purchased by the consignor in 1994. Professional restoration to part of one bird's wing and professional restoration to area of glaze atop one of the bird's heads. A minor in-the-firing contact mark and in-the-firing flake to top of rim. H 5 1/4" ; W 7 1/2".
