Bio - Crocker Farm Stoneware Auction

What: Fall 2010 Auction of American Stoneware and Redware Pottery

When: To Be Announced

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This stoneware water cooler made at the Boyton Pottery in Albany, NY, decorated with the incised figures of birds and fish, realized $103,500 in our March 2009 auction, the highest price ever paid at a stoneware specialty auction.

Crocker Farm, Inc. is a family business, owned and operated by Anthony and Barbara Zipp and their three sons, Brandt, Luke, and Mark. Anthony and Barbara began collecting and studying American stoneware in 1977, and began selling it in 1983. They have handled thousands and thousands of pieces of antique American stoneware and redware since that time.

H. MYERS (Baltimore, MD) Stoneware Water Cooler, made by Henry Remmey

The origin of pieces marked H. MYERS remained a mystery for decades until we discovered that they were made in Baltimore for merchant Henry Myers and that Myers' chief potter was Henry Remmey, Sr. This Myers cooler brought $72,600 in our July 2004 auction.

Brandt, Luke, and Mark Zipp all have B.A. degrees from Johns Hopkins University, where they each graduated with multiple honors and were inducted into the nation's premiere scholastic honors society, Phi Beta Kappa. All three brothers grew up handling numerous pieces of American stoneware and redware from a very young age, and in this way their knowledge in the field has been said to be unmatched.

We have spent hundreds of hours conducting original research on American stoneware and redware potters in original, period sources, such as census records, city directories and newspapers. New information brought to light through our research includes ground-breaking revelations on Baltimore, MD stoneware and redware, the long-sought origin of "H. Myers" stoneware, important findings on the history of the prolific Remmey family of American potters, significant contributions to the study of Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC stoneware, new findings in the area of Shenandoah Valley pottery and Pennsylvania redware, notably that of Adams County, PA potter Ernestus Bacher and that of African-American Virginia potter Abraham Spencer. Exhaustive research conducted by us on James Miller, potter of Alexandria, Virginia, took the surviving examples of his work out of obscurity, increasing the value of these vessels by thousands and thousands of dollars. These are just a few of the important contributions we have made to the field of American utilitarian ceramics. Articles published by us include:

J. MILLER / ALEX, James Miller, Alexandria Stoneware Jar

Without our research, this stoneware jar signed "J. MILLER / ALEX." would have brought a few hundred dollars at auction. We identified it as the work of obscure Alexandria, Virginia, potter James Miller. It realized $9,075 in our July 2004 auction.

"Henry Remmey & Son, Late of New York: A Rediscovery of a Master Potter's Lost Years" by Luke Zipp, Available in Ceramics in America 2004.

"Baltimore Stoneware" by Luke Zipp, Available in Antiques and Fine Art Magazine, Summer 2006. Download the entire article here.

"James Miller: Lost Potter of Alexandria, Virginia" by Brandt Zipp and Mark Zipp, Available in Ceramics in America 2004.

Our auctions have seen some of the highest prices ever paid for American stoneware and redware. In addition to numerous outstanding highlights, the Albany, NY stoneware cooler in our March 2009 auction realized $103,500, the highest price ever paid at a stoneware specialty auction. Our May 2006 auction set a record as the highest grossing stoneware auction of all time.

Crocker Farm Stoneware and Redware Auction Catalog Cover

Our full-color, high-quality auction catalogs include professional photos and detailed descriptions of every lot in each auction. Our catalogs serve not only as auction guides, but as valuable reference tools on American ceramics.

World auction records held by us include:

$71,500. World Auction Record for Central Pennsylvania stoneware (November 2006 auction).

$72,600. World Auction Record for Baltimore stoneware (July 2004 auction).

$65,550. World Auction Record for Western Pennsylvania stoneware (July 2008 auction).

$41,800. World Auction Record for Bell family (Shenandoah Valley) pottery (May 2005 auction).

$23,100. World Auction Record for an Anna Pottery (Anna, Illinois) pig bottle (July 2004 auction).

$15,525. World Auction Record for Alexandria, VA stoneware (March 2008 auction).

You might have noticed that we offer a wide variety of American stoneware and redware, ranging from New England and New York, to Virginia and the Southern U.S. states, to the potteries of America's Midwest. This always results in an exciting auction environment for all involved with high participation from all areas of American stoneware and redware collecting. Our high-quality, full-color auction catalogs, praised as the best the field has to offer, are essentially high-quality research texts and help to educate the collecting base on American utilitarian ceramics in general.