Rare Stoneware Jar with Cobalt-Script Signature, "John Rambo / Muskingum / County / September / 6 1871," OH origin, 1871, cylindrical jar with tooled shoulder and semi-rounded rim, featuring the vertically slip-trailed signature of potter, John Rambo, followed by its county of origin and date of manufacture. This jar apparently refers to the John Rambo (c. 1810 - 1884) who, according to family genealogy, was the brother of potter Henry Rambo who made the well-known incised eagle pitcher sold in our October 2009 auction. These men were part of a dynastic family of Rambo potters who produced stoneware in Newton Township, Muskingum County, for the better part of the nineteenth century. This John Rambo never appears as a potter in census records, but rather as a farmer. It is likely this jar was made for him by one of his relatives; in the 1870 federal census he is listed in close proximity to the large pottery of Joseph Rambo, his apparent nephew. (An alternative explanation for this jar is that it was made by John Austin Rambo, an apparent family member of unknown connection to the Newton Township Rambos, who appears as a potter in the 1870 federal census, living in Hopewell Township, Muskingum County. However, this John Rambo seems to have gone by his middle name, Austin.) A long Y-shaped crack from rim on front and reverse. A third crack measuring 2 3/4" on underside and forming a 6" Y on proper left side of jar. H 10 3/8".
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