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Extremely Rare Three-Gallon Stoneware Pitcher with Cobalt Beehive Decoration, Inscribed "Industry must Prosper most glorious news for the bee hive," Philadelphia, PA origin, probably Enoch Burnett, circa 1830, thin-walled, ovoid pitcher with tooled shoulder and short, flaring collar, decorated with a brushed design of a beehive atop a table surrounded by bees. Incised above with the cobalt-highlighted inscription, "Industry must Prosper most glorious news for the bee hive." Collar decorated with slip-trailed daisies and leaves emanating from a horizontal stems. Albany slip wash coating to interior. The Baltimore-inspired decoration mixed with early Philadelphia clay strongly suggest this pitcher was made by Baltimore-trained potter, Enoch Burnett, shortly into his tenure in Philadelphia. The inscribed slogan references a popular play, "The Bee-Hive," published in New York City in 1811 that was routinely performed up and down the east coast for decades to come. A comedy or "farce" that took place in "a country inn on the coast," it was frequently advertised as "The Bee Hive. Or, Industry Must Prosper," and featured the following line on the first page of Act I: "Well, Joe, this will be a glorious day for the Bee-hive!" While this play ran at least a few times over the years in Philadelphia, one 1829 stint--just two years after Burnett's 1827 arrival in Philadelphia--may have been the inspiration for this pitcher. Combining desirable form and size with extraordinary decoration and historical inscription, this work ranks among the most outstanding examples of Philadelphia stoneware that we have offered in recent years. Provenance: James Chebalo Collection; Purchased circa 1985 at a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania farm sale by folk art collector, George Scott. After Scott's death in 1991, Christie's sold his collection at Franklin and Marshall College in 1992, his family deciding to keep the pitcher. In 1994, James Chebalo traded a Hattie Brunner painting of a Pennsylvania farm auction depicting Brunner with Scott to the Scott family for this pitcher. Colored cracks, including some very minor fill, one of which extends through decoration, indicating the pitcher was likely broken into three pieces at some point. One spout chip. H 14 1/2".
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