Lot #: 298
Price Realized: $690.00
($600 hammer, plus 15% buyer's premium)
PLEASE NOTE: This result is 14 years old, and the American ceramics market frequently changes. Additionally, small nuances of color, condition, shape, etc. can mean huge differences in price. If you're interested in having us sell a similar item for you, please contact us here.
Very Rare Southern Stoneware Jug with Decoration of a Hatted Man and Inscription "Whiskey Jug," attributed to Richard Henry Decker, Keystone Pottery, Chucky Valley, TN, late 19th century, straight-sided jug with squared spout and applied strap handle, the surface covered in a brown Albany slip glaze and decorated in a darker slip with a folky design of a man wearing a hat and smoking a cigar. The slip inscription "Whiskey Jug" is written around the shoulder area of the jug and a stick figure decorates the reverse under the handle. The form of the jug and use of an Albany slip glaze is consistent with other examples produced at the Decker Pottery. More interestingly, the figural decoration on this example closely relates to that found on a documented jug bearing Richard Decker's initials, which the potter made for a man named Osker Johnson and incised with a humorous inscription. Decker was born in 1865, the son to founder of the Keystone Pottery, Charles Decker, Sr., and died in the year 1950. Because he died well into the 20th century, a great deal of information has been documented about his personal life. Evidently, he was a very skilled fiddle player. A highly unusual example of Southern folk art pottery. Mint condition. H 11 1/2".
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