Exceptional J KEISTER & CO / STRASBURG, VA Stoneware Pitcher w/ Elaborate Cobalt Floral Decoration

Summer 2020 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 157

Price Realized: $1,920.00

($1,600 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.

Summer 2020 Auction Catalog

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Exceptional Stoneware Pitcher with Elaborate Cobalt Floral Decoration, Stamped "J KEISTER & CO / STRASBURG, VA.," circa 1870, ovoid form with flared collar and tooled accents, the front decorated with a large, Alexandria, VA-inspired design of a flowering plant with leafy stems extending to the left and right of the blossom. Swag decoration to collar and flanking the spout. Spout additionally decorated with cobalt dashes.. Cobalt highlights to handle terminals. The outstanding decoration on this pitcher, atypical of the Strasburg style, indicates this piece was made by itinerant potter, James Shinnick. For a period, Shinnick worked for Benedict C. Milburn at Alexandria, Virginia's Wilkes Street Pottery, and the distinctive design from this manufactory traveled with him to the Shenandoah Valley, where he worked later in his career. Shinnick's Alexandria designs can be found on Strasburg stoneware as well as pieces he produced at his own pottery firm in Mount Crawford. This pitcher is among the most finely-decorated examples of the form that we have seen from this period in Strasburg stoneware production. In addition, relatively few pitchers bearing a Jeremiah Keister maker's mark have survived. Restored handle. A 7/8" chip to side of spout. H 12".