Exceedingly Rare Diminutive Presentation Stoneware Ring Flask with Incised Floral Decoration, Inscribed "Peter Machett / 1812", possibly Crolius Family, Manhattan, NY, 1812, wheel-thrown ring form with applied spout and footed base, decorated on each side with incised and cobalt-highlighted design of a flowering plant emanating from the ground. Incised at base with the cobalt-highlighted presentation inscription, "Peter Machett 1812". Additional brushed cobalt highlights to spout and on underside of foot, along its juncture with the ring. This recently-surfaced work was made by the same talented hand as the iconic "Elizabeth Crane" punch bowl in the collection of the American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan, NY, regarded as one of the finest examples of American stoneware in existence. Both bear a highly-distinctive flowering vine motif characteristic of this as-yet-unidentified potter's work, along with his distinctive handwriting. Made just one year after the punch bowl, this flask is significant on a number of levels and represents an important discovery in American ceramics. Its size is particularly notable, as it ranks among the smallest 19th century American ceramic ring flasks known, standing just 5 3/4" tall, and was presumably made as a pocket-sized liquor flask or a child's present. Provenance: A recently-surfaced example. This flask survives in remarkable, essentially as-made condition with a minor and shallow, in-the-firing chip to top of spout. As a fragile ceramic object of over 200 years in age, the condition is noteworthy. H 5 3/4" ; W 4 3/8".
