WORLD RECORDS
We have been absolutely privileged to handle the best in American stoneware and redware over the past two decades. Below you'll find noteworthy world auction records currently held by our firm. We hope that the depth and breadth of the market we have cultivated is made apparent by the sampling listed below--a relatively small number of the high-level lots we handle on a regular basis. (Click images for more info.)
April 2025 Update. New world records achieved by Crocker Farm in our Spring 2025 auction:
• $144,000, American Temperance Jug • $36,000, Daniel Seagle Stoneware • $36,000, Sewer Tile Pottery
American Pottery
$1.56 Million
Perhaps the most famous sale of an American ceramic object in the history of the field, our achievement of $1.56 million for David Drake's verse jar also set records for David Drake pottery and South Carolina / Southern stoneware. An article about this momentous sale is available here.
Midwestern Stoneware
$600,000
Had this extraordinary object not sold in the same auction as the David Drake verse jar, it would have realized the highest auction price ever for a piece of American stoneware. Other records broken by The Anna Pottery Liberty Monument include those for Anna Pottery, Illinois Stoneware and Albany-Glazed American Stoneware. Here's an article about its acquisition by Winterthur.
Salt-Glazed Stoneware
$483,000
When this cooler sold in 2015, it set a new world auction record for American stoneware. It continues to hold the aforementioned record for American salt-glazed stoneware, as well as Baltimore / Maryland pottery. (You can read about its sale here.)
Northeastern Stoneware
$480,000
Completely unknown to the stoneware collecting community prior to its sale, The Broadway Water Cooler surfaced in early 2020 and also holds the record for New York State Stoneware.
New York City Stoneware
$264,000
This Manhattan pitcher with an 1806 date also holds the record for stoneware by the renowned Crolius family of potters.
New Jersey Stoneware
$252,000
Made by Abial Price in 1839, this water cooler bears one of the most detailed renditions of a sailing ship known in American stoneware.
Virginia Stoneware
$204,000
This patriotic ring flask was the first noteworthy object sold at public auction by the much-studied Duncan family of Loudoun County, VA. It's currently on view at Colonial Williamsburg, part of the renowned Mariner Collection.
Massachusetts Stoneware
$180,000
Made in 1806 at the shop of Frederick Carpenter, the "Elesebeth Tarbell" jar is one of the greatest known examples of Boston stoneware. An extraordinary Boston eagle jug subsequently tied this record, as well.
American Face Vessel / Ohio Stoneware
$177,000
The William Wilbur face cooler, which broke both of the important records noted above, was once featured in a well-known Antiques Roadshow segment, available here.
Pennsylvania Stoneware
$144,000
The William Moyer water cooler not only broke the record for stoneware from the renowned potting center of Harrisburg, but for the entire state of Pennsylvania. It's currently on view at the Historical Society of Dauphin County.
American Face Jug
$144,000
Setting the record for a face vessel from the highly important production center of Edgefield District, South Carolina, this face jug also broke the record for this coveted ceramic form nationwide. Read more about its acquisition by the BMA.
American Temperance Jug
$144,000
An extraordinary example of a beloved form with an important exhibition and ownership history, this object also achieved a new record for an Anna Pottery Snake Jug.
Kentucky Stoneware
$143,750
This masterwork made at the Maysville pottery of E.H. Wood had languished without a proper attribution until we were able to identify it as perhaps the greatest surviving example of Kentucky stoneware.
Alamance County, NC Redware
$132,000
This beautifully glazed sugar jar typifies the high-level ceramic craftsmanship for which Alamance County, North Carolina, has become known.
Vermont Stoneware / Norton Pottery
$132,000
Breaking the notable stoneware records for both the state of Vermont and the renowned Norton family of potters, this churn's decoration exemplifies the awe-inspiring decorations of which these potters were capable.
Thomas Commeraw Stoneware
$120,000
This highly important jar graces the cover of Brandt's landmark 2022 book, Commeraw's Stoneware: The Life and Work of the First African-American Pottery Owner, and was acquired by the DAR.
Shenandoah Valley Pottery (By Lot)
$115,000
This pair of whippet figures by Samuel Bell in Winchester, VA represents the highest price ever paid at auction for a lot of Shenandoah pottery.
Philadelphia Stoneware
$108,000
This monumental water cooler bearing the stamp "PHILADELPHIA" and an 1828 date was completely lost to history before being rediscovered in 2023.
Rochester Stoneware
$108,000
The stoneware craft of Rochester, NY is considered one of the great pinnacles of the industry, especially in the area of elaborate cobalt figural decoration, as seen on this exemplary deer crock.
Albany Stoneware
$103,500
Still the world auction record for Albany, New York, stoneware, this elaborate incised fish cooler was the first object we ever sold for six figures, back in 2009.
Cowden & Wilcox Stoneware
$97,750
Though the Moyer cooler holds the record for Harrisburg stoneware (and Pennsylvania stoneware in general), this Civil War soldier-decorated jug achieved the highest price paid for a piece of stoneware by the esteemed Cowden & Wilcox pottery, the most iconic of the Harrisburg shops.
Shenandoah Stoneware / Bell Family Pottery
$92,000
This elaborate jar by Samuel Bell holds records for both Shenandoah stoneware and pottery made by the prolific Bell family of Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Tennessee Pottery
$90,000
Part of the iconic Carole Wahler collection--perhaps the greatest collection of Tennessee pottery ever assembled--it is fitting that this face jug realized the world auction record for pottery from that state in our January 2025 auction.
Flowerpot
$78,000
This exceptional flowerpot by Absalom Bixler, an example of Pennsylvania redware, broke the world auction record for this ubiquitous form.
Upstate South Carolina Stoneware
$78,000
This Civil War era stoneware jug by Thomas Owenby referencing Confederate money and made in Union District, SC set the record for upstate South Carolina stoneware--typically collected separately from stoneware made in the major potting center of Edgefield District.
M. & T. Miller Stoneware
$71,500
Apart from Cowden & Wilcox and their fellow Harrisburg potters, Michael & Theophilus Miller in Newport are perhaps the most highly regarded central Pennsylvania stoneware makers.
Western Pennsylvania Stoneware
$65,500
Steeped in Americana, this southwestern Pennsylvania "wax sealer" bearing the image of a baseball player broke the record for that American stoneware hotbed in 2009, and still holds it to this day.
North Carolina Stoneware
$59,000
One of the greatest examples of 20th century Southern pottery known, this devil face jug by Brown Pottery of Arden, North Carolina, set the world record for stoneware from that state. A jug made circa 1820 in Fayetteville by Gurdon Robbins holds the record for 19th century North Carolina stoneware.
Meaders Family Pottery
$48,000
Speaking of 20th century Southern pottery, no name is more associated with the art form than the Meaders Family of Georgia. This face jug made by matriarch Arie Meaders holds the world auction record for pottery made by this prolific family.
Christopher Alexander Haun Pottery
$42,000
Tantamount to an American ceramics folk hero, C.A. Haun was effectively martyred for the Union cause during the Civil War; he also happened to produce some of the most skillfully potted and beautifully glazed American redware vessels ever created. This jar bearing his maker's mark realized the record for his work as part of our January 2025 single-owner sale of the Carole Wahler Collection.
Bell Family Redware
$41,800
This remarkable whippet dog figure by John W. Bell in Waynesboro, PA holds the record for redware by the prolific Bell family of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
19th Century North Carolina Stoneware
$41,300
This object achieved the record for 19th century NC stoneware based on its tremendous importance as a product of the state's first stoneware manufactory. It's currently on view at Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, in the famous Mariner Gallery.
Texarkana Pottery
$37,950
Jacob Bachley was an extremely skilled, but completely forgotten, American folk artist making fantastic creations in Texarkana, Arkanas, circa 1880. This was the first work signed with his name ever sold at public auction and its sale, coupled with our own research on Bachley, helped propel his story to the fore.
Ohio Redware
$36,000
Signed Ohio redware like this extraordinary jar is relatively rare compared to stoneware; the record for Ohio stoneware is held by the William Wilbur face cooler sold in our Summer 2019 auction.
Georgia Stoneware
$36,000
Made by documented African-American potter James M. Bussel, this alkaline-glazed pitcher made for a church was the most elaborate example of Georgia stoneware we have ever handled.
Missouri Stoneware
$36,000
This large jar decorated with a federal eagle bears an early (1832) date and is perhaps the most important example to surface from this prolific potting center.
Daniel Seagle Stoneware
$36,000
Daniel Seagle is one of the preeminent potters from the North Carolina stoneware tradition and this ten-gallon jug is a truly monumental example of his work.
Sewer Tile Pottery
$36,000
"Sewer Tile" is a term for pottery made primarily as drain pipe, beginning in the 19th century. But within that industry, numerous clay artists transcended the bounds of utilitarian pipe and made wonderful figural creations like this monumental pair of lions.
Anna Pottery Pig Bottle
$35,650
While another pig still holds the world auction record for a more typical salt-glazed Anna Pottery pig flask, this Albany-glazed example in the shape of a razorback hog realized the highest price ever achieved for this much-beloved ceramic form.
District of Columbia Stoneware
$32,400
As part of Brandt's extensive research on Washington, D.C. stoneware, he had uncovered a reference to Samuel Holmes' stoneware manufactory in a Georgetown newspaper, but this pitcher was the first signed example of his to surface.
Stoneware Oyster Jar
$12,000
It is fitting that a jar made for the king of 19th century oystermen, New York's Thomas Downing, holds the world record for an American stoneware oyster jar, a much-beloved form. (This jar ties another, which was made for African-American oysterman Thomas Jackson.)