Extremely Rare Albany-Slip-Glazed Stoneware Triple-Spouted Harvest Jug, Inscribed "Old Rye Whiskey / Second Amendment Jug / Nov 27th 1883 / Wm. Rose," Signed "Christy town Pottery Works," Christytown, Mahoning County, OH origin, 1883, beehive-shaped form with a wide pouring spout to one side and two applied narrow pouring spouts in the form of stylized breasts to the opposing side. Surface covered in an Albany slip glaze, featuring the sgraffito inscriptions, "Old Rye Whiskey" and "Christy town Pottery Works," within a dashed border on the front, "Second Amendment Jug," on the side of the vessel, and the date, "Nov 27th 1883," on the reverse. An applied clay banner on the opposing side is incised "Wm Rose," probably the same William Rose who appears as a young farm laborer and next door neighbor of one of the Christytown potters in the 1870 census. The surface is further embellished with impressed inverted hearts around the base and shoulder, impressed crosshatched triangles around the breast-form spouts, faux screwheads and drapes around the larger spout, and additional faux screwheads at the center of the handle. The underside is whimsically incised with the rear end of a man, which "moons" the viewer when the jug is tipped for drinking. A tour-de-force of ceramic folk art, this work was created as a humorous and provocative item designed to be seen as much as it was used. The inscription "Old Rye Whiskey" placed below a Christian cross (at a time when the Temperance Movement was in full swing), the slogan, "Second Amendment Jug," the breast-shaped spouts, and the incised rear end on the underside, all point to a clever, social commentator as much as a skilled potter. The bawdy elements of the jug are highly reminiscent of the famous pig bottles, shoo fly jugs, and various political ware of the Kirkpatrick Brothers of Anna, Illinois, working during the same time period. Provenance: Featured on the PBS series, Antiques Roadshow, Cleveland, OH, 2015. Missing handle. Flakes and chips to underside at edge, which appear to have occurred during the firing. Small chips to one smaller spout. Minor nicks to applied banner. A chip and minor glaze-over chip to larger spout. H 7 3/8".
