Extremely Rare Two-Gallon Cobalt-Decorated Stoneware Jug with Petersburg, VA Advertising, Incised "Myrick & Murt / Pebg," attributed to Thomas Amoss, Henrico County, VA, circa 1820, ovoid jug with tooled shoulder and delicately-formed, two-tiered spout, decorated around the body with three oval flower blossoms emanating from a series of splayed leaves. Shoulder incised with the cobalt-highlighted cursive inscription, "Myrick & Murt / Pebg." Cobalt highlights to handle terminals. The inscription on this jug refers to the Petersburg merchant firm of John Myrick (who traded on Old Street) and the unknown Murt. Based on the jug's distinctive decoration and early-style form, it is attributed to Thomas Amoss, possibly while working at the Richard Randolph Stoneware Manufactory along Four Mile Creek in Henrico County, VA. As Amoss died in 1822, this object may be regarded as one of the earliest examples of advertising pottery produced by a Southern maker. A true document in clay, both aesthetically-appealing and historically significant, foretelling the rise of inscribed advertising on American stoneware as decades progressed. Handle restored. Restoration to spout chips. H 14".
