Exceedingly Rare and Important Small-Sized Stoneware Jug with Cobalt Bird-and-Grapes Motif, attributed to Adam States, Sr., South Amboy, NJ, Manhattan, NY, or Greenwich, CT, mid 18th century, wide-bodied, ovoid jar with footed base, tooled shoulder, and open loop handles, decorated on the front with a slip-trailed design of a striped bird perched on a stem bearing a cluster of grapes. Reverse decorated with a second bird with striped body and tail, standing on a stylized ground. Brushed cobalt highlights to handle terminals. A closely-related bird and grapes jug bearing distinctive traits identifying States as a likely maker was sold in Crocker Farm, Inc.'s July 20, 2013 auction, lot 52. This influential potter, active in South Amboy, NJ, Manhattan, NY, and Greenwich, CT, would eventually train the well-known Greenwich potter, Abraham Mead, who used his master's "watch spring" motifs frequently in his work. This lot is the first jar with probable States attribution that we have seen. As bird designs are nearly non-existent from this period in American stoneware production, the motifs on this jar make it an exceptionally rare and unusually decorative example of colonial-era stoneware. A small rim chip and minor rim nick. A 3 1/2" Y-shaped line on underside, continuing approximately 6 1/4" up body of jar. H 11".
