Outstanding and Important Alkaline-Glazed Alabama Stoneware Torso Jug, Inscribed "W," c1850-1880
Winter 2025 Auction of the Carole Wahler Collection
Lot #: 172
Estimate: $20,000-$30,000.A Note About Estimates
Minimum Bid: $5,000.
Outstanding and Important Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Torso Jug, Inscribed "W," AL origin, circa 1850-1880, wheel-thrown, ovoid form with applied tubular pouring spout in reverse and arched, horizontal-strap handle across the top, the upper half decorated with a hand-modeled and applied clay face featuring a flattened, semi-lunate forehead, incised eyes within raised, almond-shaped eyelids, a hooked nose with flattened nostrils, C-scroll ears, an open mouth with incised philtrum, and broad, trapezoidal chin. Decorated around the bottom half of the vessel with incised sine wave decoration interspersed with straight incised lines. Surface covered in an olive-green alkaline glaze. Incised "W" on proper left side of vessel. Among the finest examples of Alabama stoneware known, this face vessel is highly significant due to a number of desirable traits, including its bold, stylized representation of the human face, large size, refined potting with regional incised treatment, and beautiful glaze. Collectively, these traits firmly establish this piece as a masterwork of American figural stoneware. To our knowledge, it ranks among the few best alkaline-glazed face vessels known from the state of Alabama, only exceeded in quality by the iconic torso vessels of Randolph County's John Lehman. The importance of this object is corroborated by its successive ownership by three of the South's leading stoneware collectors: Tony Shank, Pria Harmon, and Carole Wahler. Provenance: Ex-Tony Shank; Ex-Pria Harmon. Very nice condition. A 1 1/4" flake to proper left eyelid. Two chips to each ear. A chip to nose. Minor chipping to base. A faint 3" line on underside, extending 3" up base on front. H 17".
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