Lot #: 103
Estimate: $20,000-$40,000.A Note About Estimates
Minimum Bid: $5,000.
Important and Probably Unique Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Jug, Inscribed "Aug the 30 / 1864 / Maid an Sold at / A low price fore Confedrent / Money by me Thomas Ownbey," Thomas Owenby, Union District, SC, 1864, ovoid jug with pronounced throwing lines, tapered spout molding, and thin strap handle, featuring an extensive, five-line incised inscription, date, and signature on the vessel's side, continuing onto the reverse. Surface covered in a glossy, olive-green alkaline glaze. Regarded as Owenby's masterwork, this jug is perhaps the most famous example of South Carolina stoneware made outside of the state's Edgefield District. Poking fun at the value of the Confederate dollar nearing the end of the Civil War, this work gives insight into Owenby the potter as well as the person. Previously owned by legendary collector, Georgeanna Greer, this jug was the top lot in the first sale of her pottery at Harmer Rooke Galleries in New York on November 18, 1992, bringing a total of $18,150, including buyer's premium. In an unsent letter written to Greer in March 1990, Carole Wahler stated, "I’ve always told my husband if I could pick just one of Georgeanna’s Southern pieces it would probably be [this] jug," and her acquisition of it at the 1992 Greer sale speaks to her high regard for this object. Outside of the work of David Drake, few South Carolina stoneware objects feature elaborate inscriptions of this quality. Exhibited: Crossroads of Clay, McKissick Museum, The University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 1990. Literature: Illustrated in Greer, American Stonewares, p. 147; Illustrated in Crossroads of Clay: The Southern Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Tradition, p. 81; Illustrated in Baldwin, Great and Noble Jar, p. 68. Provenance: Acquired by Wahler at The Georgeanna H. Greer Collection of Important American Stoneware, Harmer Rooke Galleries, New York, NY, November 18, 1992, lot 377. Very nice condition with a 3/4" spout chip and a few minor base chips. H 14".
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