Author Archives: Brandt Zipp
The “MOORE & FOOTE” crock to be sold in our upcoming July 17 stoneware and redware auction is a very interesting example of American advertising stoneware. The impressed mark is one of the longest, most detailed I have ever seen: MOORE & FOOTE WHOLESALE DEALERS IN GROCERIES, PROVISIONS, WHITEFISH & TROUT STONEWARE PAINTS OILS, DYEWOODS [...]
The stoneware of Thomas Commeraw, made in Corlears Hook, on the East River in New York City, has been valued by historians and collectors for about as long as any stoneware made in the United States. The work of the early Manhattan potters was some of the first to be recognized as important American material [...]
During his presidency, George Washington visited each of the original thirteen colonies during a three-part presidential tour. Washington took the opportunity to travel about the new nation as (I’m sure amongst other concerns) a way to help galvanize the states into a Union. Similar to Washington, in the wake of the War of 1812, James [...]
The Texas stoneware snake jug we will be selling on January 30 was one of the highlights of Kelly Young’s prominent collection of antique American utilitarian ceramics. We featured a picture of Mr. Young holding the jug on the title page of our current catalog (see below). The jug is also one of the most [...]
The case of the “Absalom Bixler” group of redware is a very interesting one. Redware pieces bearing his name, or clearly by the same maker as those that do, have long stood as landmark pieces within the canon of antique American utilitarian ceramics. Decorated with applied, bright yellow and green figures of birds and cats, [...]
A stoneware pitcher consigned to our October 31 auction came to us incised with both a highly desirable, folky patriotic eagle decoration and an indecipherable maker’s name. We assumed it was the maker’s name, though differentiating a maker’s name or initials from those of a recipient or owner can be a difficult task at times. [...]
Stoneware produced by the Black family in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, is some of the most respected of all Southwestern PA wares. A stoneware pitcher impressed “G & A BLACK” graces the cover of Phil Schaltenbrand’s Stoneware of Southwestern Pennsylvania and many examples were featured in The Westmoreland Museum of American Art’s 2007 exhibition, “Made in [...]