Lot #: 286
Price Realized: $1,652.00
($1,400 hammer, plus 18% buyer's premium)
PLEASE NOTE: This result is 6 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.
Exceedingly Rare Shenandoah Valley Multi-Glazed Redware Lamb Doorstop, attributed to J. Eberly & Co., Strasburg, VA, circa 1890, molded figure of a reclining lamb, the surface dipped in cream-colored slip and decorated with heavy streaks of manganese and copper under a clear lead glaze. The purpose of this form is evidenced in the Eberlys price lists; an 1888 J. Eberly & Co. price list, illustrated on p. 260 of H.E. Comstock's The Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley lists "Lambs for Door Stops, per dozen, 3.00". (This price most likely refers to the pottery's standardly-produced, slip-coated lambs, as the word "fancy", used to denote the Eberlys multi-glazed redware, is not mentioned.) To our knowledge, this previously-undocumented example is one of only five surviving Eberly lambs with a polychrome-glazed surface. Noteworthy for its charming figural form and substantial size, the Eberly lamb has become an iconic image among collectors and scholars of Southern folk pottery. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, which recently-surfaced in a New York State collection. Literature: For related examples, see H.E. Comstock, The Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley Region, p. 280, fig. 5.221, and William E. Wiltshire, III, Folk Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley, p. 69. Wear to glaze. L 11 3/4".
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Important Samuel Bell (Shenandoah Valley, Strasburg, VA) Stoneware Face Pitcher
