Extremely Rare Two-Gallon Stoneware Jug with Incised House Decoration, Stamped "STEDMAN / [&] / SEYMOUR / NEW-HAVEN," CT origin, circa 1830, ovoid jug with flaring, tooled spout, decorated with an incised and cobalt-highlighted design of a house with smoking chimney, crosshatched roof, three rectangular windows to the second floor, and arched windows flanking a door with arched dormer on the first floor. A series of wavy incised lines creates a stylized ground below. Cobalt highlights to maker's mark. Cobalt highlights to handle terminals. While house motifs were produced decades later with some frequency by J. & E. Norton of Bennington, VT and A.O. Whittemore of Havana, NY, relatively few incised depictions of this image are known. To date, we have sold only a few pieces with incised house decoration, all of which featured small drawings of this design, incorporated into a scene. This jug, with its large, detailed image, is easily the best incised rendering of a house that we have ever offered. Spout chips, one of which is glazed over. A 3 1/4" Y-shaped hairline from base on reverse. A small base chip. A few in-the-firing surface flaws, including a contact mark to house design near proper left edge. Some staining and residue to surface. H 15 1/2".
