Possibly Unique Small-Sized Stoneware Presentation Jar, Inscribed in Cobalt "Jos. Shibler. Oct. the. 26. 1869", attributed to Alexander Conrad, Greensboro, PA, 1869, half-gallon ovoid jar with tooled shoulder and flattened rim, featuring the brushed cobalt inscription "Jos. Shibler. Oct. the. 26. 1869". Decorated with wavy cobalt stripes below rim and at base. Body decorated with an undulating vine in the Western Pennsylvania style. Inscribed in cobalt "1/2 gal Pot" at base, and at the midsection with the word "MINE.", flanked on one side by wavy cobalt stripes. The 1870 Federal Census lists Joseph Shibler as a fifty-eight-year-old carpenter living in the house of potter, Alexander Conrad, in Greensboro, PA. It is presumed Shibler was the father-in-law of Conrad. The inscription "MINE." offers the possibly that, while the jar was most likely thrown by Conrad or another potter at his shop, it may have been decorated by Shibler himself. According to Big Ware Turners by Phil Schaltenbrand, Alexander Conrad would not establish his well-known New Geneva shop, just across the river from Greensboro, until 1870--and Conrad's listing in the 1870 Census (taken in June of that year) still shows him living in Greensboro. It is possible that he was operating a small shop there at the time, but was more likely probably working at one of the larger town potteries, Hamilton & Jones or James Hamilton & Co. Relatively few inscribed Western PA stoneware pieces of this quality are made available for public sale, and this example's link to a prolific potter from the region adds to its appeal and historical significance. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, which descended in the family of the consignor. Excellent condition with a shallow 5/8" rim chip and a few very minor base nicks. H 6 1/4".