Extremely Rare Slip-Decorated Redware Keg Bank, attributed to Anthony Bacher, Winchester, VA or Mechanicstown (now Thurmont), MD, circa 1880, wheel-thrown hollowware keg with tooled banding and carved diagonal slot, seated atop a pedestal base. Surface coated in cream-colored slip, decorated with streaks of manganese, and covered in a clear lead glaze. A fingerprint, presumably Bacher's, is visible on each side of the upper edge of the keg, revealing how the piece was dipped in its slip. Underside with old, erroneous pencil inscription, reading, "Mackley Pot [twice] / Mechanicsburg, Pa. /about 1842," referring to Bacher's protege in Mechanicstown, Maryland. A decorative and highly unusual form, featuring Bacher's classic glaze scheme. Literature: Illustrated and discussed in Comstock, The Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley Region, p. 179, fig. 4.279. In discussion of this piece, Comstock notes, "Very few banks attributable to [Bacher] are known" (Comstock, p. 179). Provenance: Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc. Auction #5022, January 28, 1983, lot #180; Purchased by the consignor from the Stradlings, New York, NY, in January 1983. Minor base chipping, minor chipping to one edge of keg, and an in-the-making hole in the underside of the hollow pedestal, the hole with original glaze around its edge. L 5" ; W 4" ; H 5 1/4".
