Extremely Rare Small-Sized Stoneware Presentation "Milk" Flask with Incised Eagle Decoration, Iowa origin, Dated Sept. 29, 1883, cylindrical jug with tooled shoulder, squared rim, and small, vertical-strap handles, the surface coated in Albany slip and incised with a flying eagle carrying a banner, inscribed "For milk only." Further incised above with the name, "Riley Vanhorn," the initials, "R.P.O," and words, "U.S. Mail," above the date, "Sept. 29, 1883." Riley Van Horn was an agent for the Railway Post Office (R. P. O.), which sorted mail aboard moving trains for speedier and more efficient delivery. Sometime roughly around 1880 he was named the first agent of the new railway station erected in Ankeny, Iowa, just north of Des Moines. (He is listed in the 1885 Iowa state census as a 34-year-old postal clerk living in Des Moines, and it was there that he seems to have lived when he was not riding the rails.) By 1882 he was operating as "a route agent on the Northwestern between Callanan and Des Moines" (The Sioux City Daily Journal, February 4, 1882). An item in the January 27, 1883 issue of Des Moines' Iowa State Register noted that Van Horn was one of the "new clerks" of the "night mail service ... on the C., R. I. & P." railroad, and it was probably in this capacity that he received this miniature "milk" jug as a gift. (The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, commonly called the Rock Island Line, was an extensive American railroad of the time.) An item in the April 26, 1885 issue of The Dubuque Sunday Times celebrated Van Horn's efficiency at his job: "The railway postal clerks are being put through the sweat-box, and they make a good record. The average per cent. correct is 94.3. ... Riley Van Horn, on the Rock Island Saturday, threw the whole State of Iowa, 1,639 offices, with a record of 98 8, and he did it in ninety minutes." This object falls in line beside other American stoneware of the time--particularly several existing Anna Pottery objects--made for railway men, including the Anna conductor pitcher featured in this auction. Its humor also parallels Anna pieces, with its "For milk only" inscription on what is clearly a liquor flask, as well as the familiar milk jug shape. Incised floral motif at shoulder. Outstanding decoration with excellent form. Relatively few Iowa stoneware pieces of this decorative quality are known. Very nice condition with a rim chip on reverse, a chip and minor in-the-firing contact mark to proper left handle, a small chip to shoulder molding, an in-the-firing ping to proper right side of jug, and some minor wear and residue to body of jug. H 8 3/4".
