Exceedingly Rare and Important Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Lidded Sugar Bowl with Two-Color Slip Decoration, Phoenix Factory, Shaw's Creek, Edgefield District, SC, circa 1840, squat-shaped, ovoid jar with rounded shoulder molding, tall collar, open strap handles, and semi-squared rim; surface covered in a mottled-green alkaline glaze and dramatically decorated with a zigzagging drape-and-tassel motif in brushed iron and slip-trailed kaolin slip. Includes original wheel-thrown stoneware lid with mottled-green alkaline glaze. Possibly made by Thomas Chandler, this work is significant for its form, size, and extravagant decoration. The sugar bowl form is exceedingly rare among any antebellum Southern potters working in the alkaline-glazed tradition. This example has remarkably survived with its lid intact. Larger Edgefield jars of related form are referred to among collectors as honey jars or stew pots. At only 6 3/4" tall and 6 1/2" wide at the midsection, it is also among the smallest Edgefield pieces bearing the region's prized two-color slip decoration. The design itself is striking as well as extremely rare in its jagged application, running counter to the sweeping curvilinear motifs typically associated with Chandler throughout his career. Among the most outstanding examples of early-period stoneware from Shaw's Creek to come to auction in years. One handle restored. Small, shallow rim chips. A faint 2" hairline from rim. A 2 1/2" Y-shaped hairline at base and a few other shorter vertical hairlines at base. Lid with two shallow chips. H 6 3/4".
