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Exceedingly Rare and Important Small-Sized Stoneware Presentation Pitcher with Cobalt Floral Decoration, Inscribed "John, A, Stahl, / Harrisburg / JMT," James Mantell Thomas at the Cowden and Wilcox Pottery, Harrisburg, PA, circa 1865, ovoid pitcher with tooled midsection and flaring collar with carved rim, incised at the midsection in delicate penmanship with the inscription, "John, A, Stahl, / Harrisburg / J.M.T," brushed over with cobalt highlights. Decorated below with a cluster of leaves emanating to the left and right with oval flower buds or fruit. Cobalt highlights to handle terminals. Among the most outstanding examples of Central Pennsylvania stoneware to come to auction in years, this pitcher is both highly decorative and highly significant to the history of Harrisburg's stoneware industry. Few hand-inscribed examples of stoneware produced in Pennsylvania's capital city are known. These include a muffineer with incised decoration, a miniature pitcher and mug set with incised decoration, and a jar bearing the signature of Shem Thomas on the underside, all regionally-famous works. The signature, "J.M.T.," on this pitcher indicates it was made by James Mantell Thomas, the son of New-York-trained potter, Shem Thomas, the latter distinguished as one of the most instrumental figures in the city's stoneware craft. J. M. Thomas was named after James Mantell, a fellow stoneware potter of Shem Thomas who had worked in partnership with him in the mid-1850's in Penn Yan, New York--just before Thomas left for Harrisburg. After their well-documented time in Harrisburg, the Thomases would eventually move west to Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, establishing a pottery there that produced stoneware potted and decorated in the Cowden and Wilcox style. The name of the pitcher's owner, John A. Stahl, refers to a successful Harrisburg tobacconist of the time period. From a decorative standpoint, the pitcher is distinguished by its unusually small size and stylish, carved rim, a feature essentially unknown in Cowden stoneware production, one that mimics the form of fancy Rockingham and china pitchers of the period. A truly remarkable, recently-surfaced work that expounds on the story on Central Pennsylvania's most famous stoneware pottery. Spout chips. Otherwise excellent condition. H 4 7/8".
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