: More than 400 lots of American stoneware and redware representing
all the major pottery regions from New England to Virginia and
west to Ohio were offered recently at Crocker Farm's auction. On
the heels of its last highly successful sale, Crocker Farm
principal Tony Zipp and family were able to pull together a
stellar assortment for their May 22 event.
"Due to an overwhelming response from consignors, we have been
able to construct a sale that is unprecedented in quality and
variety," stated the Zipps in the catalog. The firm's assessment
of the merchandise rang true with a quality assortment of wares
ranging from the extravagantly decorated wares of New England and
New York to the sublimely decorated stoneware pieces of the
Shenandoah Valley.
Also included in the selection of merchandise was an assortment
of pottery banks that carried a provenance of the collection of
well-known toy dealer and auctioneer, the late Bill Bertoia. Many
of the banks had come from the Seamen's Bank auction conducted by
Christie's in 1991, and all of the pottery banks had been
consigned from a Midwestern collector.
The redware Santa Claus bank sold for $33,000.
The first lot of the auction would set the tone for the day
as a rare Shenandoah Valley redware figure of a whippet in a
Bennington type glaze was offered. Termed by the auctioneers as
"one of the most important examples of Shenandoah Valley pottery to
have surfaced in recent years," the piece was made by John Bell and
was marked with his stamp three times on the base.
"Few examples of highly ornamental redware by John Bell have
survived," says Zipp, and this is one of the only known glazed
examples. The vast majority of the whippets produced by any of
the Bell potteries have painted surfaces. Measuring 10 inches in
length, the rare piece had recently been discovered in Missouri.
Bidding on the lot was intense as collectors battled for the lot
with it finally hammering down at $41,800, becoming the top lot
of the auction.
One of the most unusual pieces in the auction was a rare glazed
redware Santa Claus bank that had a provenance of Bill Bertoia
and the Seamen's Bank collection. The extremely rare figure of
Santa standing along side of his bag, was actually a double bank
with coin slots in both the figure's back and the toy bag.
Decorated with slip, the piece had incised facial features and
hand molded details. The rare Nineteenth Century Pennsylvania
figure was also actively bid with it hammering down at $33,000.
Other banks offered included a rare cobalt decorated stoneware
log cabin bank with a raccoon perched on the roof. The bank,
attributed to Thomas Haig Jr, Philadelphia, was also dated 1846
in cobalt on the base. Also with a Bertoia/Seamen's provenance,
this bank also saw serious bidding with the lot selling at
$18,150. A folky redware hen bank with a whistle in the tail and
decorated with slip carried the same provenance and sold at
$6,056.
A Burger churn with lion decoration sold at $31,900.
The top piece of northern stoneware came as a J. Burger,
Rochester, N.Y., eight-gallon churn was offered. The rare
large-sized churn was decorated with a bold lion with an elaborate
mane and spotted body standing on a speckled ground in front of a
tree. Several small cracks and a rim chip were noted on the piece,
along with a small amount of cobalt fry to the tree. This piece
also attracted serious attention with the lot selling for $31,900.
Another large Burger churn, this one decorated with a partridge
under a tree, also did well. In overall excellent condition, the
piece sold for $26,400. A Harrington, Lyons, two-gallon jar with
large snowflake decoration with a face in the center was bid to
$11,550, while a large Whittemore, Havana crock with house and
flag decoration realized $10,450.
Southern pieces of stoneware included a three-gallon straight
sided crock that was script decorated with "Dry River Pottery,
1876." The piece, attributed to John Heatwole, Rockingham County,
Va., is thought to be unique and was desirably dated with the
centennial date. Serious attention was paid to this piece with
bidding ending at $13,750.
This salesman's sample grave marker brought $8,800.
A rare salesman's sample grave marker, attributed to
Washington County, Tenn., maker Charles Decker, was an interesting
item. The piece, measuring 12 inches in height, was described in
the catalog as being "one of the rarest stoneware forms produced in
19th Century America." Bidding on this lot was also active with it
selling at $8,800.
Two stoneware spaniel banks made from the exact same mold, one in
a salt glaze with cobalt decoration, the other in an Albany slip,
brought substantially different prices. Both banks carried the
Bertoia provenance and while the condition on the Albany slip
glazed example was mint, the cobalt decorated piece had a portion
of the front leg broken and glued. Bidding on the cobalt
decorated dog bank ended at $11,550, while the Albany slip glazed
piece left the block at $1,045.
Shenandoah redware included an Eberly pitcher with a cream glazed
body and decorated with green and brown splotches did well at
$4,180, a small seated dog with a basket in its mouth brought
$3,960 and a pair of Eberly wall pockets with applied flowers
sold for $2,970.
Prices include the ten percent buyer's premium charged.
