Exceedingly Rare and Important Two-Gallon Stoneware Jug with Incised Foliate Decoration, Stamped "DAVID MORGAN / NEW YORK", circa 1800, highly-ovoid jug with heavily-tooled spout and footed base, decorated with an incised and cobalt-highlighted foliate design in the Manhattan style. Cobalt highlights to maker's mark and handle terminals. Relatively few signed examples of David Morgan stoneware, produced in the first years of the 19th century at his shop on Corlears Hook, are known. Morgan's work is typically decorated with an impressed swag-and-heart motif modeled after works by Thomas Commeraw. The importance of this example lies not only in its extremely rare maker's mark, but also in its incised decoration, as only a few hand-incised pieces by Morgan have surfaced. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, purchased by the consignor in the 1980s or 1990s. Chips to base, including heavy shallow base chipping to left side. Otherwise excellent, essentially as-made condition with a few in-the-firing contact marks typical of stoneware of this age and origin. H 14 1/2".
