Very Rare Tuscaloosa County, Alabama Stoneware Flask by African-American Potter William Jones

Spring 2024 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 51

Spring 2024 Auction Catalog

Very Rare and Important Stoneware Handled Flask, Stamped "W. JONES", William Jones, Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, origin, circa 1870, wheel-thrown jug with flattened sides and tooled spout, the surface covered in a clear salt glaze. Impressed with "W. JONES" maker's mark, featuring a reversed "N" and "S", at base on reverse. As explained in Joey Brackner's Alabama Folk Pottery, William Jones is "believed to be an African American," perhaps a former slave. Brackner illustrates a stoneware jar bearing Jones's maker's mark, and while the "JONES" (complete with backwards N and S) on that jar is identical, it reads "WM JONES," as opposed to the "W. JONES" seen on this flask. Jones's work is clearly exceptionally rare, and Brackner notes his operation may have only been in business for a few months, as follows: "William Jones ... was a pottery owner in Romulus documented in the 1870 census of manufacturing. It is unclear how Jones became a potter ... . He may have been a former slave of the Jones family who had worked for the Maharry pottery, or he could have been a free person of color who was the owner of a pottery. No one knows how long Jones's pottery was in operation or how productive it was during its life. The 1870 industrial schedules indicate that it was in operation for three months of that year. Since Jones listed his occupation as farmer on the census population schedules, this could mean that the pottery operated on a seasonal basis or that the pottery was just beginning and operated for only three months." Careful study of both the population and industrial schedules of the 1870 federal census confirms that the free African-American farm laborer listed in the Romulus (Tuscaloosa County) population schedule must be the same who appears as a pottery owner in the industrial schedule. (The federal government frequently undertook special censuses to document manufacturing, farming and more, and these exist alongside the more commonly consulted population ones.) This may be the only example known bearing this exact version of Jones's maker's mark, and its exceptional form adds to its importance as a wonderful example of Southern stoneware. Excellent, essentially as-made condition with a small in-the-firing ping at base and some minor, in-the-firing clay residue to shoulder. H 9 1/2".