Exceptional and Important Anna Pottery Stoneware Pig Flask with Glass Eyes and Political Inscription, Wallace and Cornwall Kirkpatrick, Anna, IL, Dated 1882, molded in the form of a reclining pig with hole at rear, incised details to face and hooves, and anatomically-correct underside. Highly unusual rose-colored glass eyes with black pupils. Surface is kaolin-slip-coated and covered in an overlying salt glaze with elaborate cobalt-highlighted incising throughout. Side of flask reads "St. Louis the future great- / Railroad and River Guide / with a little good old Bourbon in a hogs- / 1882 a verry(sic) healthy year for Democrats in a-". Remainder of flask with incised and cobalt-highlighted map of the Midwestern U.S., including the following landmarks: Miss River, O & M. R. R., Chester, Grand tower, Cairo, C B i C R R, Odin, Centralia, Tamaroa, Duquoin, Carbondale, Anna, Mounds, Dubuque, Chicago the Corn City, and Cincinnati the Pork packing City". This pig flask is the finest salt-glazed example by the Kirkpatrick brothers we have ever offered. Its survives as one of a relatively small number of Anna pig flasks featuring glass eyes. The object carries additional significance in its highly unusual incised political inscription, "1882 a verry healthy year for Democrats in a-", a reference to the United States Congressional midterm elections of 1882, in which the Democrats took control of the House of Representatives. Adding to the appeal of this flask is its crisp and highly legible incising, written in the classic Kirkpatrick style with flourishes on the letter R in "Railroad and River Guide". A chip to one ear. A chip to one back leg. An in-the-firing salt drip to back and side of pig L 7".
