Exceptional Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Pitcher w/ Iron Slip Decoration, attrib. John Davis Leopard, Rusk County, Texas
Winter 2025 Auction of the Carole Wahler Collection
Lot #: 186
Estimate: $6,000-$10,000.A Note About Estimates
Minimum Bid: $1,500.
Exceptional Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Pitcher with Iron Slip Decoration, attributed to John Davis Leopard, Rusk County, TX, circa 1860-1875, ovoid pitcher with slightly-flared collar and semi-rounded rim, the surface covered in an olive-colored alkaline glaze and decorated with dramatic red-to-brown runs of iron slip. Rutile accents to exterior of collar and heavier rutile to interior. A strikingly-glazed example with a modern aesthetic, this pitcher was praised by Wahler as one of her best pieces. Her notes on this piece read as follows: "Texas Pitcher! GREAT / Published in Ant. Mag., Crossroads in Clay, Greer and a small Texas pottery book. We have them all. Still the best Texas piece I have seen. 11/12. One of our best of lots of great Southern pots. I traded Jerry for his Texas pitcher which sold at same time and is in Ant. Mag w/this pitcher. 11/15." An unsent letter from Wahler to Georgeanna Greer, dated March 30, 1990, discusses this iconic work when it was still owned by Greer: "Today, I spent four hours studying the examples in the McKissick exhibit [Crossroads of Clay]. . . the piece that stopped me in my tracks was your Leopard pitcher made in TX. I recognized it immediately from your book, but had no idea its glaze was so spectacular! Georgeanna, if I look long enough and plan to trade high enough might I hope to find such a piece?" Two years later, Wahler was able to acquire Greer's pitcher at the Harmer Rooke Galleries auction of her collection in New York for the impressive sum of $8,000. Exhibited: Crossroads of Clay, McKissick Museum, The University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 1990; Washou Brazos Show. Literature: Illustrated in Greer, American Stonewares, p. 46; "Alkaline Art," The Magazine Antiques. Provenance: Purchased by Wahler at The Georgeanna H. Greer Collection of Important American Stoneware, Harmer Rooke Galleries, January 13, 1993, lot 618. Very nice condition. A small, shallow chip to interior of spout. Two shallow chips to interior of rim. A hairline across underside, continuing 2 1/4" up base of pitcher. A few faint, very short lines from rim. H 9 3/8".
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