Cobalt Decorated Salt Glazed Jardiniere Dated 1894

Circa 1894: This very rare freehand decorated stoneware jardiniere measures a whopping 11" in height and 12" in diameter at its widest point and is dated 1894 on the bottom. By the 1890s, art pottery was coming into fashion, and jardinieres (often with pedestals) were being manufactured in mass quanitites by many potteries in the Ohio River Valley. Veteran stoneware collector Tony Bazzo bought this jardiniere at a small sale in Southwestern Pennsylvania 12-15 years ago and finally decided to let it go. We have not been able to determine who potted the jardiniere, but it was most likely created in Western Pennsylvania or West Virginia not far from where Bazzo found it. The pot has two drill holes that seem to be orginal to its manufacture, and this makes sense because a jardiniere is simply a type of flower pot and would benefit from drain holes. The only other similar piece of decorated stoneware we have seen is a small five inch tall jardiniere made by Shenadoah Valley of Virginia potter George Fulton, but this large pot simply dwarfs Fulton's little jar. Obviously, the potter who threw and decorated this piece was an old timer mimicking a popular pottery form of the day. The jar is decorated top to bottom around its entirety with motifs found in the SWPA and WV regions and is made from a reddish clay found both in Western PA and West Virginia. The jar has no cracks or repairs but does have a minor base chip and minor chipping to the drain holes and many factory firing anomalies as made, including a recessed area to the shoulder, a small glazed over rim chip, and two large kiln kisses, one including an adhered piece of clay. This is an incredible one of a kind piece of 19th century American stoneware.