Important and Very Rare Redware Flask Stamped "Thompson" (John Wood Thompson, Morgantown, WV)

Fall 2022 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 262

Price Realized: $1,440.00

($1,200 hammer, plus 20% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 2 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.

Fall 2022 Auction Catalog

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Important and Very Rare Glazed Redware Flask, Stamped "Thompson," John Wood Thompson, Morgantown, VA (now WV), circa 1810-1825, wheel-thrown form with footed base, heavily-flattened sides, and distinctive spout molding, the surface covered in a lead-based glaze featuring speckled reddish coloration accented with celadon. Underside impressed with "Thompson" maker's mark, used by John Wood Thompson, the patriarch of a family that would eventually produce distinctive coggled and figural decorated stoneware articles several decades later. One of a small number of signed Thompson family redware pieces known, this flask features an unusually colorful glaze treatment; two related flasks with simpler glazes are illustrated in the definitive article on the subject, "The Potters and Potteries of Morgan's Town: The Earthenware Years, 1796-1854," written by Richard Duez and Don Horvath for Ceramics in America 2004. Attesting to the rarity of the maker's mark, this flask is the first piece of pottery bearing this stamp that we have offered. Literature: Horvath and Duez, "The Potters and Potteries of Morgan's Town: The Earthenware Years, Circa 1796-1854," Ceramics in America 2004, p. 113 fig. 21-22. Provenance: Descended in a local West Virginia family to the current owner. Loss to spout. An additional spout chip. A base chip. A short, minor Y-shaped line to base. H 6".