Exceedingly Rare and Important One-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Impressed and Cobalt-Highlighted Federal Eagle and Incised Foliate Decorations, Stamped "C. CROLIUS / MANHATTAN, WELLS / NEW-YORK," circa 1800, highly-ovoid jar with squared rim, decorated with an impressed design of a spread-winged eagle atop a hemisphere, above the large, early maker's mark of Clarkson Crolius, Sr. Sides of jar decorated with incised foliate sprigs emanating from a turnip-shaped base. Bright cobalt highlights throughout eagle, impressed maker's mark, and incised decoration. An excellent example of early Manhattan stoneware in all respects, this jar epitomizes America's growing independence as a domestic pottery producer. Its eagle motif, appropriated by Crolius from the seal of New York City, dates back to the wake of the Revolutionary War, when the City chose it to replace the previously featured crown design. The eagle atop the hemisphere remains a prominent feature today of both the City seal and the New York State flag. This jar is one of only two Crolius pieces with this patriotic, New York-specific emblem of which we are aware. Bearing Crolius's earliest and most impressive "Manhattan Wells" mark, it is easily one of the finest stamped Crolius pieces known. Provenance: Crocker Farm, Inc., March 14, 2015, lot 11. A glazed-over, in-the-firing rim chip, measuring 1 1/4". Another small chip on exterior of rim and a few small chips on interior of rim. 3" vertical hairline at base, extending 1 3/4" onto underside. A 1" line at base, visible on interior and only partially visible on exterior, which probably occurred in the firing. A minor in-the-firing chip to underside at edge. H 8 3/4".
