Important Cobalt-Decorated Stoneware Presentation Vase with Incised Flowering Vine Motif, Inscribed "Catherine N. Remmey / June 7th 1871," attributed to Henry Harrison Remmey (1794-1878), Philadelphia, PA, 1871, finely-potted, tapering form with footed base, tooled shoulder, and flared rim, decorated around the midsection with an incised and cobalt-highlighted flowering vine motif with delicate detail work to the flower petals and leaves. Brushed cobalt stripe to shoulder and base. Incised near base with the cobalt-highlighted name of Remmey's wife, "Catherine N. Remmey," along with the date "June 7th 1871". The four-petaled floral motifs and scalloped leaves with incised interiors can be found on pieces produced over fifty years earlier at Remmey's father's shop in Baltimore, MD, some of which were possibly by his hand. It was also in Baltimore that Remmey met his wife, the daughter of a baker, Catherine Nebbinger Bolgiano Remmey (1801-1872), the person for whom this vase was made. The date indicates Remmey made this gift for his wife at the age of 78, just one year before her death at age 71. While Remmey's skill at incised decoration did not seem to diminish with age, a slight tremor in the penmanship on his wife's name is evident. Henry Remmey, Jr.'s career is one of the most prolific and impactful of any American stoneware potter, active in Manhattan, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, and helping to completely transform the Mid-Atlantic stoneware craft. He is one of a few potters that not only witnessed, but participated in, the transition of stoneware from an artisan craft to a bustling industry, directly influencing the changes in style affected by the passage of time and movement to new locations. Nevertheless, this vase acknowledges the potter's Manhattan schooling in its nostalgic incised treatment. A certain sentimentality is evident as we view the work of a potter in his final years of life, still creating keepsakes for his wife. While refined in its decoration, the vase's form is still evocative of the work of a utilitarian potter, like the jars and churns Remmey had thrown countless times in his life. A ceramic work of great significance, both from decorative and historical perspectives, intimately connected to one of America's founding potting families. Provenance: Purchased by the consignor in the late 1980s, and bought shortly beforehand directly from the granddaughter of potter, Richard Clinton Remmey (1835-1904), son of Henry Harrison Remmey. Excellent, essentially as-made condition. H 7 5/8".
