Very Rare W. NICHOLS / PO'KEEPSIE Decorated Stoneware Jar, Poughkeepsie, NY, 1823

Summer 2020 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 258

Price Realized: $960.00

($800 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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Very Rare One-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Cobalt "Turnip" Decoration, Stamped "W. NICHOLS. / PO,KEEPSIE," NY State origin, circa 1823, ovoid jar with tooled shoulder and small lug handles, decorated on the front with William Nichols' distinctive brushed "turnip" motif, and on the reverse with an X. Cobalt highlights to handle terminals. The Athens, NY-trained potter, William Nichols, established his Poughkeepsie pottery in 1823 and tragically died later that year at the age of twenty-five. As this maker's mark was likely only used for several months, few signed examples of Nichols' Poughkeepsie work are known. Each marked object is considered a noteworthy artifact of a skilled potter's short career in a prolific, stoneware-producing city. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, from a forty-year private collection. Large spider crack descending from rim on left side of jar's front, which splits, extending further onto jar's front in one direction as well as through left handle in another direction. Rim chips. Rim secured with a wire. Cracks to reverse and small flakes to shoulder on reverse. Some mottling to surface.