Rare Two-Gallon Cobalt-Decorated Stoneware Jar, Inscribed "Noah Higgs," Greensboro or New Geneva, PA origin, circa 1875, ovoid jar with semi-rounded rim, brush-decorated with top-to-bottom stripes, vining, and the number, "2," flanked by dashes. Incised at base while the jar was turned upside-down with the signature, "Noah C. Higgs." Noah Calvin Higgs was born on September 13, 1844, the son of farmer Simon Higgs and his wife, Susanna. Raised in Page County, Virginia, in August 1861 Higgs enlisted in W.H. Chapman's Company of the Virginia Light Artillery (Dixie Artillery) at Winchester, Virginia, and was ultimately captured near Gettysburg on July 4, 1863. He was taken to Fort Delaware and there swore an oath of allegiance to the United States, which enabled him to renounce his Confederate affiliation and fight for the Union, enlisting in the 3rd Maryland Cavalry in August 1863 and serving until September 1865. He appears in the 1880 federal census as a worker in a Greensboro, PA "Stoneware Shop," listed on the same page as several other stoneware makers. His proximity to famous stoneware manufacturer James Hamilton suggests that he was working for him at that time. Relatively few pieces of Western Pennsylvania stoneware with hand-incised signatures are known. Areas of fry and/or wear to cobalt. Some surface wear around jar's midsection. H 10 1/4".
