Extremely Rare Sgraffito-Decorated Redware Plate with Elaborate Bird and Floral Motif, attributed to the Conrad Mumbauer Pottery, Haycock Township, Bucks County, PA, Dated 1818, w'ith coggled edge, the interior coated in yellowish slip and sgraffito-decorated with a flowering plant with blossoms flanking a central floral motif surmounted by a bird-on-branch motif. The design features splayed, heart-shaped leaves at its base, leading to dashed flower or pomegranate motifs and two large tulips facing the image of a ring-necked bird with finely carved feather details, perched atop a stylized branch. A central pinwheel-shaped flower is detailed with oval, striped, and dashed sgraffito details. Surface decorated with numerous daubs of copper slip and covered in a clear lead glaze. The style of the design leads to a firm attribution to the pottery of Conrad Mumbauer (1761-1845), which he operated in Haycock Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania between 1794 and his death in 1845. Christopher Malone in his 2025 Americana Insights article, "The Potters of Haycock Mountain: Conrad Mumbauer, John Monday, and Simon Singer," illustrates a related bird-decorated dish, noting "[T]he Mumbauer pottery produced few known pieces featuring birds, but one dish employs what may be a ring-necked pheasant as its central design" (Malone, p. 132). Indeed, among the ten Mumbauer pieces at The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the seven at Winterthur Museum and Gardens, and the one example at The Metropolitan Museum of Art ten, none depict birds. The bird depicted on the plate in this auction relates in its form and ringed-neck to the example illustrated in Malone, while displaying a more fully developed wing and feathering. The reverse side of the dish in this auction includes the unusual incised date, "1818," written into the clay prior to the firing, as well as a penciled notation, possibly written the year it was made, reading "Sun(?) / Ra(?) / 1818." As relatively few pieces from this pottery are dated, this object helps establish a timeline for decorative motifs used by Mumbauer and his apprentice-turned-successor, John Monday (1809-1862). Our Fall auction offers the opportunity to acquire an exceptionally rare, figural-decorated work from one of Pennsylvania's leading producers of sgraffito-decorated redware, surviving in strong condition for its type. While the majority of surviving sgraffito-decorated redware dishes reveal significant damage to the decoration, including heavy flaking to the interior or even broken sections, this example's central motif retains a bright, nearly untouched design with only two small flakes and other very minor wear. Literature: For more information on this pottery, see Malone, "The Potters of Haycock Mountain: Conrad Mumbauer, John Monday, and Simon Singer," Americana Insights 2025, pp. 126-141, related example illustrated on p. 132, fig. 13. Provenance: Sotheby's Parke Bernet Galleries, New York, NY; The Stradlings, 1978; The Estate of Robert A. Ellison, Jr. Several large to minor rim chips. Interior with two small flakes and very minor wear. Diam. 11 5/8".
