Exceptional Stoneware Jug w/ Incised Bird and Ship Decorations, att. Jonathan Fenton, Boston, late 18th century
Fall 2024 Stoneware Auction
Lot #: 49
Estimate: $5,000-$8,000.A Note About Estimates
Minimum Bid: $1,500.
Exceptional Stoneware Jug with Incised Bird-and-Floral and Ship Decorations, attributed to Jonathan Fenton, Boston, MA, late 18th century, highly-ovoid jug with tooled shoulder, ribbed handle, and semi-squared spout, decorated on the front with an incised and cobalt-highlighted design of a bird with heavily-dashed feathering, carrying a large flower in its beak. Reverse with incised and cobalt-highlighted design of a sailing ship with heavily-incised sails, large flag, ratlines, and impressed portholes. Incised scalloping around base of handle. Brushed cobalt highlights to handle terminals. The stylish potting and color of this jug lead to an attribution to renowned 18th century Boston potter, Jonathan Fenton, shortly before leaving the city to establish a new stoneware manufactory in Dorset, Vermont in 1801. Noteworthy for its two-sided incised decoration and unusually bold application of cobalt, this jug is highly significant to Fenton's body of work as freehand incising by this potter is essentially unknown. Adding import to the piece is its depiction of a sailing ship, a highly-prized motif in early American stoneware and the only Fenton rendering of this design that we are aware of. An in-the-firing chip (contact mark) to ship. A 1 1/2" hairline on underside, continuing 2 1/2". H 13".
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