Extremely Rare Anna Pottery Stoneware Pig Flask with Incised Inscription, Signed "from / Anna Pottery," Wallace and Cornwall Kirkpatrick, Anna, IL, circa 1880, molded in the form of a reclining pig with spout at rear, incised details to face and hooves, and anatomically correct underside, incised with the inscription, "from / Anna Pottery / with / a little of the milk of human Kindness / They all like it." Surface covered in a dark-brown Albany slip glaze. The first Anna pig flask that we have offered with this inscription, this work, like so many of the Kirkpatricks' pieces, pokes fun at the Temperance Movement of the period, referring to liquor as "the milk of human Kindness" and affirming alcohol's popularity with "They all like it." An excellent, recently surfaced example that highlights the Kirkpatricks' wit and use of their works as political commentary. Provenance: Recently surfaced in the Southwestern U.S. Shallow chipping to spout. A minor chip to proper left ear. A large in-the-firing chip (contact mark) to bottom edge of proper right rear foot. A small in-the-firing chips (contact marks) to proper left rear foot. Other minor in-the-firing contact marks to surface. L 7".
