Jackson C.H. West Virginia 4 Gallon Merchant Jar

Circa 1880s: West Virginia stoneware collectors love their local merchant jars, and this 15" tall four gallon storage jar made for "A.W. Kidd and Sons, dealers in stoves, grates and general hard ware" in Jackson C.H. (now Ripley), West Virginia, is desirable because jars from towns that no longer exist or have been renamed are scarce and fewer large pieces were manufactured. This freehand and stencil decorated crock, most probably made by T.F. Reppert or Williams and Reppert in Greensboro, Pennsylvania, has survived in superb essentially as made condition with no chips, cracks, or repairs and only typical firing anomalies, including a slightly out of round rim. This is a collector quality example of late 19th century stoneware marketed alng the Ohio River.