Extremely Rare and Important B. GREEN Stoneware Jug, Troy, NY (Branch Green)

Spring 2020 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 58

Price Realized: $1,800.00

($1,500 hammer, plus 20% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 4 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.

Spring 2020 Auction Catalog

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Exceedingly Rare and Important One-Gallon Cobalt-Decorated Stoneware Jug, Stamped "B. GREEN," Branch Green, probably Troy, NY, circa 1799-1803, highly-ovoid jug with tooled shoulder, heavily-ribbed spout, and footed base, impressed at the shoulder with the maker's mark, "B GREEN," highlighted in cobalt slip. Brushed cobalt highlights to handle terminals. Surface covered in a light salt glaze. Branch Green was among the most influential potters in the Northeastern U.S. during the first quarter of the 19th century, helping establish successful stoneware manufactories outside of the venerable Manhattan school. He left his potting footprint in a number of cities, working in Troy, NY; Old Bridge, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; and Wilmington, DE. He is most well-known for his coggle-decorated pieces bearing bird-and-leaf and fish-and-berry motifs, produced at his long-lived Philadelphia shop. This jug, bearing a different form and color than Green's Philadelphia products, was likely made at his earliest-documented potting site in Troy, NY. In a May 1799 issue of the Troy Northern Budget, Green appears advertising for two journeyman potters; in a February 1801 issue of the same publication, Green and a second potter, Rowland Clark, advertise again for pinewood, journeymen and apprentices, as superintendents of "Morgan & Smiths Stone Ware Factory, at the South-East Part of the Village of Troy." (Despite later published information that the name "Morgan" refers to Green's later business partner in New Jersey, James Morgan, no evidence has been found to substantiate this claim.) In November 1802, Branch Green appears again in the Troy Gazette under his own name, advertising for two journeyman potters, whose "work will be confined to turning stone ware." Green remained in Troy at least until May 1803, when he again advertised in the Gazette, with two important notices: One noting that his wife had left him, the other that he and Clark had dissolved their partnership. The first reference to Green at a new location is a June 1805 advertisement for his involvement with the firm of James Morgan & Co. in Old Bridge, New Jersey. This jug is the first signed example of Branch Green stoneware that we have ever offered, and represents a highly important object in terms of Green's influence on the American stoneware craft as a whole, and the Albany area craft specifically. Heavy chipping around base. A 1" in-the-firing iron ping to right side of jug.