Extremely Rare Stoneware Hanging Flowerpot w/ Applied Pine Cones, David Greenland Thompson, Morgantown, WV

Summer 2020 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 171

Price Realized: $6,000.00

($5,000 hammer, plus 20% buyer's premium)

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Summer 2020 Auction Catalog

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Extremely Rare Salt-Glazed Stoneware Hanging Flowerpot, attributed to David Greenland Thompson, Morgantown, WV, circa 1885, wheel-thrown, bowl-shaped form with original drain hole in underside and two applied clay straps for hanging on interior of rim, the surface painstakingly-decorated with dozens of molded and applied clay pine cones. One of a small number of surviving Thompson pieces with sprigged naturalistic decoration, this highly-decorative work relates to America's burgeoning art pottery movement. A closely-related work, sold as lot 130 in Crocker Farm's Spring 2020 auction, featured pine cones in a variety of sizes, applied in a random manner. This flowerpot instead uses different molds of small pine cones applied in more-orderly rows. Literature: For related works, see Duez and Horvath with Heindl, "The Stoneware Years of the Thompson Potters of Morgantown, West Virginia, 1854-1890," Ceramics in America 2011, fig. 59. According to this article, such objects were only made by David Greenland Thompson as gifts for family members and townspeople. Excellent condition with a few large chips to pine cones, which occurred in the making and are lightly glazed-over with salt. H 8" ; Diam. 12".