Extremely Rare One-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Cobalt Floral Decoration, Inscribed "G," probably Gardner Family, Loudoun County, VA, circa 1820-1830, cylindrical jar with footed base, tooled shoulder, and semi-rounded rim, brush-decorated on the front and reverse with a circle joined by a stripe. Further decorated below with scallop and swag brushwork. Midsection inscribed "G" in cobalt script, possibly signifying the name, Gardner. This jar exhibits characteristics in its form and decoration relating it to stoneware produced at Alexandria, Virignia's Wilkes Street Pottery, while still of its own distinctive style. The circle motif, found on Alexandria, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore stoneware of the period, is also seen decorating the reverse of the only known jar bearing the stamp, "L. GARDNER / LOUN / VA," attributed to Lewis Gardner (ca. 1778-1850) of the intermarried Duncan and Gardner family of potters of Loudoun County, Virginia. A significant recent discovery as very few attributable pieces to this potting school are known. Literature: For more information on the Gardiner family, see Bertsch, "Lost Potters of Loudoun County, Virginia: The Gardner-Duncan Family," Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Volume 40, 2019. Very nice condition with a 1" base chip and minor in-the-firing chipping to bottom edge. Small chips to underside along bottom edge. H 10 1/8".
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