Extremely Rare HAUN (Christopher Alexander Haun), Greene County, TN Redware Jar w/ Exuberant Manganese Brushwork
Winter 2025 Auction of the Carole Wahler Collection
Lot #: 29
Estimate: $5,000-$8,000.A Note About Estimates
Minimum Bid: $1,500.
Extremely Rare Glazed Redware Jar with Exuberant Manganese Brushwork, Stamped "HAUN," Christopher Alexander Haun, Greene County, TN, circa 1840-1860, ovoid jar with footed base, tall collar with flattened rim, and heavily-ribbed strap handles with profuse impressed asterisk decoration to the terminals, the lead-glazed surface boldly-decorated throughout with arching manganese brushstrokes against an olive ground with orange spotting. Shoulder impressed with the repeating coggled signature, "HAUN," in raised-face lettering with inverted "A," interspersed with a cross-hatched motif. Christopher Alexander Haun (1821-1861) was a Union sympathizer during the Civil War who, on November 8, 1861, participated in the burning of a Confederate railroad bridge along Lick Creek in Greene County, Tennessee. A plan to burn nine bridges had been devised by local minister, Reverend William Blount Carter, and was supported by President Lincoln, with the promise that a Union regiment would be provided to protect those involved. However, Haun, along with four other Union loyalist potters, were later captured, convicted of treason, and hung by the Confederacy. A moving letter written by Haun to his wife, Elizabeth, while imprisoned before his hanging, asked her to "have Bohanan, Hinshaw or Low to finish off that ware and do the best you can with it for your support." A figure of both artistic and historical significance, Haun carries a two-fold legacy, regarded today as the state's most gifted potter and a man of principle who died for the Union cause. Desirable form, excellent use of brushed and impressed decoration, and elusive maker's mark. Among the finest jars by this potter known. In her notes, Wahler states the following about this jar: "This is still the only signed Haun of this particular coggle wheel. Sherds with this coggle have been found at the J. A. Lowe site. . . This jar is more nearly like the J. A. Lowe than any of the other Greene Co. jars. Collar flatter than J. A. Lowe." Exhibited: Art of Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, September 13, 2003 to January 18, 2004; Tennessee Turned, Earthenware and Stoneware Made in East Tennessee 1800-1900, Museum of East Tennessee History, May 16-October 30, 2011. Literature: Illustrated in Wahler, Tennessee Turned, Earthenware and Stoneware Made in East Tennessee 1800-1900, Part One, p. 62, fig. 57, p. 86, pl. 8, p. 198, and p. 229, pl. 8. Provenance: Purchased by Wahler at Powell Auction. A restored spiraling crack around base area, with restoration extending partway onto underside. A few additional restored flakes to body of jar and areas of restoration to rim. Some unrestored wear to handles and rim. A piece of in-the-firing adhered clay to midsection. Flakes to interior base area. H 13".
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