Very Rare Three-Gallon Cobalt-Decorated Stoneware Jar with Incised Face and Floral Decorations, Albany, NY area, early 19th century, ovoid jar with tooled shoulder and rounded lug handles, decorated on one side with an incised and cobalt-highlighted man's face with horn like projections extending from a circle atop the figure's head. Reverse decorated with an incised and cobalt-highlighted daisy motif in the early Albany style. Brushed cobalt highlights to handle terminals. Warren F. Hartmann, in his Ceramics in America 2012 article, "The Stoneware of Early Albany: A Mystery Solved," described the jar's face motif as representing a jester. It may also be viewed as depicting a Native American with stylized headdress or possibly a "dual image" simultaneously depicting a man's face and bull's face, a treatment also seen on a devil and goat's face jug, illustrated in Sumpter Priddy's book, American Fancy: Exuberance in the Arts, 1790-1840. Literature: Illustrated and discussed in Hartmann, "The Stoneware of Early Albany: A Mystery Solved," Ceramics in America 2012, fig. 10. Provenance: Warren F. Hartmann Collection. Faint scaling throughout surface. A 1/2" in-the-firing line on underside, forming an inverted 3 3/4" L-shaped line on reverse base. A 1" line on underside, continuing 1 1/4" up base. Some surface wear to reverse. A few minor rim chips. Some in-the-firing flaws to surface, typical of pieces of this age and origin. A few shallow base chips and base wear. H 13 1/8".
