Exceptional Miniature Cobalt-Decorated Stoneware Presentation Pitcher, Inscribed "A Present" and "Made by / C.F. Decker / Nov 26th / 1898," Charles F. Decker, Sr. at the Decker Pottery, Washington County, TN, 1898, squat-shaped, thin-walled pitcher with flaring, footed base accented with pierced punctates and incised wavy line and pierced punctate treatment to collar; brush-decorated around the rim with a row of vertical cobalt dashes above a series of horizontal dashes at the collar's base. Handle decorated with cobalt dashes, highlights to the terminals, and impressed with an incised faux screwhead at its lower terminal. Incised across the front with the words, "A Present," indicating the pitcher was specially-made as a gift. Underside with rare incised signature and date, reading "Made by / C.F. Decker / Nov 26th / 1898." Among the finest Decker pitchers that we have ever offered, made extraordinary by its wonderful inscriptions and unusual incised and impressed details. This pitcher is the first hand-signed example of Decker stoneware that we have ever offered. Exhibited: Tennessee Turned, Earthenware and Stoneware Made in East Tennessee 1800-1900, Museum of East Tennessee History, May 16-October 30, 2011. Literature: Illustrated in Wahler, Tennessee Turned, Earthenware and Stoneware Made in East Tennessee 1800-1900, Part One, p. 151, fig. 165, p. 176, pl. 26. Provenance: According to Wahler's notes, the pitcher was found "at a sale for $2.50." It was later sold to Marcus King, from whom Wahler purchased it decades ago. Excellent, essentially as-made condition. H 3 1/4".
