Exceedingly Rare Stoneware Presentation Pitcher with Profuse Cobalt Floral Decoration, Inscribed "George W Greenland," attributed to the Norval Greenland Pottery, Uniontown, PA, circa 1865, ovoid-bellied pitcher with tooled banding around waist, tall collar with heavily-beaded rim, and ribbed handle, lavishly-decorated with undulating vines bearing open-centered tulips and graduated leaves descending into series of dots. Additional vertical swag-and-dot decoration to front of spout. Incised across belly with the cobalt-highlighted name, "George W Greenland," a Uniontown, Pennsylvania, tannery owner and brother of local potter, Norval Greenland. The decoration on this specially-made family piece expounds on the typically more simplistic tulip motif used at Greenland's pottery, adding dramatic, undulating vining throughout, a treatment more commonly associated with the Greensboro/New Geneva potting tradition. Similarities between the design on this pitcher and pieces marked, "DONAGHHO & BEALE / FREDERICKTOWN, PA.,"made roughly twenty miles from Uniontown, suggest a connection between these two potteries. A Uniontown jar bearing closely-related tulip, leaf, and spot elements to the design was sold in Crocker Farm's March 24, 2018 auction, lot 165. As the pitcher form is highly unusual among known Uniontown products and few pieces survive inscribed by or for any member of the Greenland family, this work is regarded as one of the most important examples of Uniontown stoneware to come to market in years. Excellent condition with a minor spout chip and a small chip to underside along bottom edge. H 10".
