Important Absalom Bixler (Lancaster County, PA) Redware Flowerpot w/ Applied Birds

Summer 2022 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 139

Price Realized: $34,800.00

($29,000 hammer, plus 20% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 2 years old, and the American ceramics market frequently changes. Additionally, small nuances of color, condition, shape, etc. can mean huge differences in price. If you're interested in having us sell a similar item for you, please contact us here.

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Very Rare Glazed Redware Flowerpot with Applied Bird-on-Flower Decorations, attributed to Absalom Bixler, Earl Township, Lancaster County, PA, circa 1850, flaring pot with semi-rounded rim, decorated on the front and reverse with hand-modeled and applied clay bird-on-flower motifs. Bixler ingeniously uses white clay for this applied decoration (which turns yellow when fired under a lead glaze) to create a dramatic contrast with the red clay ground. The designs include hand-incised details to the birds and leaves, brushed copper slip highlights, and brushed yellow slip spots forming blossoms at the tips of the applied branches. Flowerpot is further decorated with brushed cobalt or copper slip flower designs flanking the applied decoration. Surface covered in a heavy lead glaze. Bixler's bird-decorated flowerpots have been admired for decades as highly-distinctive works of Pennsylvania-German folk art. Few examples are known. Of particular note is this example's immaculate state of preservation. Provenance: From a recently surfaced CA collection. Remarkable condition with only minor wear to applied decoration, a shallow chip to interior of rim, and other very minor wear to interior of rim. H 6" ; Diam. 8 1/2".