Very Rare Baltimore Stoneware Jar Signed on Bottom by Hugo Miller

July 20, 2019 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 225

Price Realized: $295.00

($250 hammer, plus 18% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 5 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.

July 20, 2019 Auction Catalog

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Very Rare One-and-a-Half-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Cobalt Floral Decoration, Inscribed on Underside "Hugo Miller", Baltimore, MD origin, circa 1880, cylindrical jar with tooled shoulder and squared rim, decorated on the front and reverse with a two-stemmed flowering plant design. Underside incised in script with the name of the potter, "Hugo Miller". Miller, born in 1848, was a German immigrant potter who arrived in Baltimore in 1880, working probably in various city shops over the next few decades, but never apparently owning his own pottery. It is unclear at which shop Miller was working when he produced this jar. Outside of William Morgan and Thomas Amoss stoneware from the early 1820s, very few examples of Baltimore stoneware are known with a hand-incised signature of the potter. Provenance: Recently-discovered on the Eastern Shore of MD. A thin crack across underside, extending 3 1/2" up base. A rim chip. A minor U-shaped line in rim. A tiny nick to shoulder molding. Some faint traces of old orange paint.