Lot #: 379
Price Realized: $390.00
($325 hammer, plus 20% buyer's premium)
PLEASE NOTE: The American ceramics market frequently changes, often dramatically. Additionally, small nuances of color, condition, shape, etc. can mean huge differences in price. If you're interested in having us sell a similar item for you, please contact us here.
Wonderful Salt-Glazed Stoneware Folk Art Face Lamp, American, circa 1930, 19th century salt-glazed stoneware jug of Western Pennsylvania or Shenandoah Valley of Virginia origin, modified into electrified lamp with carved man's face. This lamp's creator carved two circular holes in the front of the jug and fitted them with clear glass discs, carved a second hole at the midsection, placed a diagonal metal tube within, and formed a plaster nose around it, and below the nose carved an open mouth with jagged teeth. The face includes original painted features including a mustache and eyeballs on the glass discs. A carved line forms the man's face and eyebrows. Half of the jug's spout is broken midway through and a lamp wire is fitted through the opening, attached to a light bulb. A large rectangular opening is carved in the jug's reverse for placing the bulb within. This ingenious work, combining artistry from different eras of American life, is among the great repurposed stoneware pieces of the 20th century, and a fitting part of the amazing face jug collection of Knoxville, Tennessee collector, Carole Wahler. Provenance: Carole Wahler Collection. Loss to plaster on nose. A 3 1/4" hairline descending from rectangular opening in reverse. Expected chips around opening in reverse. The wiring has not been tested. Likely needs to be rewired given the age of the wiring. H 11 1/2".
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