Rare Redware Vase with Copper and Manganese Floral Decoration, Stamped "SOLOMON BELL / STRASBURG / Va.", circa 1870, ovoid-bodied vase with footed base and distinctive, recessed collar, the surface covered in a whitish slip and decorated with a swag and hanging flower design in copper and manganese slip. Impressed below rim with Solomon Bell maker's mark. One of a small number of examples of this form and decoration known. The black grease pen number, "240", is written on the underside, indicating it was number 240 in the large collection cataloged in Alvin H. Rice and John Baer Stoudt's 1929 book, The Shenandoah Pottery. Provenance: From a Virginia estate. Literature: Illustrated and listed in Alvin H. Rice and John Baer Stoudt, The Shenandoah Pottery, p. 154, fig. 240; for other examples, see H.E. Comstock, The Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley Region, p. 226, fig. 5.79. A 1/2" hole drilled in the underside for use as a porch vase. Otherwise very nice condition with some minor base chips and an area of light wear to front. H 10 1/2".
