Extremely Rare Stoneware Vase Inscribed "I AM FROM 10EC" (TENNESSEE), Middle TN origin
Winter 2025 Auction of the Carole Wahler Collection
Lot #: 81
Estimate: $3,000-$5,000.A Note About Estimates
Minimum Bid: $1,000.
Extremely Rare Stoneware Vase with Brown Slip Decoration, Inscribed "I AM FROM 10EC," Middle TN origin, late 19th or early 20th century, ovoid form with large, flattened base, tooled rim, and ribbed, open handles with scrolled lower terminals; Incised at the shoulder with the clever slogan, "I AM FROM 10EC," meaning "I AM FROM TENNESSEE." Incised "7" below. Upper half dipped in a brown slip, the entire surface covered in a clear salt glaze. This published vase is one of a small group of brown-dipped stoneware pieces from Middle Tennessee that include an incised phrase. Among the finest examples known from this distinctive school of Tennessee pottery. Literature: Illustrated in Guilland, Early American Folk Pottery, p. 281. An original painting of this vase was made for the Index of American Design and is now in the Collection of the National Gallery of Art. A chip to top of scrollwork on each lower handle terminal. A 4" x 1" reglued section to edge of foot, which is colored along the break. A professionally restored, approximately 3" x 1/2" flake to base. A small rim chip. An in-the-firing contact mark to shoulder on reverse. H 11 3/4".
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