Extremely Rare Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Jar with Iron Slip Decoration, Stamped "FLINT / WARE," attributed to Thomas Chandler at Trapp & Chandler Pottery, Edgefield District, SC, circa 1848-1850, wide, ovoid-bodied jar with flattened rim and arched lug handles, the surface covered in a celadon-colored alkaline glaze and decorated on the front and reverse with a looping line of iron slip below three iron slip stripes. Additional looping iron slip decoration below handles. Appealing blue pooling to glaze on interior. Interior base impressed with extremely rare "FLINT / WARE" maker's mark, surrounding an impressed flower blossom. Few examples bearing Chandler's prized "FLINT WARE" mark--produced under partnership with businessman and Baptist minister Rev. John Trapp--are known, and this jar is the first example that we have offered. The impressed flower at the center of the mark enhances the rarity of this example. Adding intrigue is the highly unusual placement of the stamp on the interior base, the first such case that we have seen on a 19th century American stoneware jar. Provenance: Recently discovered in South Carolina. A 5 3/4" loss to rim on one side. An approximately 3" x 2" cross-shaped surface line to midsection on same side. Opposite side with a curving crack descending from rim to midsection, a 4 1/2" vertical crack from rim, and a 4" vertical crack from rim, descending from a small chip. Hairlines to underside, extending a short distance onto base of jar. H 12 1/2".
