Extremely Rare Lead-and-Manganese-Glazed Redware Figure of a Whippet, Stamped Three Times "JOHN W. BELL / Waynesboro, Pa.," circa 1880, molded figure of a whippet dog with crossed paws, reclining on a rectangular base, the surface decorated with dramatic reddish-brown manganese sponging over a yellow clay ground and covered in a heavy lead glaze. Incised mouth and details to front paws. Underside impressed on three sides with John W. Bell maker's mark. One of only two known whippets marked by John Bell's son, John William Bell, this work combines an iconic Bell figural form with striking glaze in the style of the family's Waynesboro shop. The first example of its kind to surface was sold in Crocker Farm, Inc.'s May 21, 2005 auction, lot 1, and set a then-record price for Bell family pottery at auction, bring $41,800. Attesting to the rarity of this work, no signed John W. Bell whippets are pictured or mentioned in Rice and Stoudt's The Shenandoah Pottery, Wiltshire's Folk Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley, Comstock's The Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley Region, or in the Bell and Sons Exhibit Catalogue, which features Bell pottery items from Waynesboro displayed by the Nicodemus Center for Ceramic Studies in 1997. Its glazed surface compounds both its scarcity and visual appeal, as the vast majority of Bell whippets were painted in solid colors after the firing at the pottery. A significant new discovery by one of America's most famous potting families. Provenance: Recently surfaced in the Waynesboro, PA area. Old repair to snout. Loss to proper left ear. A few shallow chips to bottom edge of base. Minor surface wear. L 10" ; W 4" ; H 6 7/8".
