This 9¼-inch-tall cobalt decorated presentation pitcher was attributed to Richard C. Remmey of Philadelphia, was inscribed “John Bradleys Growler” and was the sale’s top lot at $45,000. The catalog ranked it as “among the great creations of this dynastic American potting family” and it sold to a Philadelphia area private collector ($30/50,000).
Review by Madelia Hickman Ring
SPARKS, MD. — Twenty years ago, Tony and Barbara Zipp — long-time redware and stoneware dealers — went into the auction business, joined by their three sons, Brandt, Luke and Mark. Since their first auction on July 17, 2004, the family firm has logged dozens of sales and racked up countless stoneware and redware pottery auction records. The family’s latest auction, which closed on July 26, combined 484 lots in a printed catalog, with an additional 95 online-only lots; all 579 lots gaveled down successfully, and the white-glove event realized $1.35 million. More than 100 new bidders signed up to participate, and lots sold to buyers throughout the United States.
“The Twentieth Anniversary sale kind of snuck up on us,” noted twins Luke and Mark who took time out of their busy schedule to talk to Antiques and The Arts Weekly a couple of days after the sale closed. “Our spring (April 5) sale was one of our top three auctions ever, but although we didn’t have any six-figure highlights in this sale, it was still one of our best auctions in terms of quality. We’ve been blessed with an overabundance of wonderful pieces this year.”
The sale featured 30 lots by — or attributed to — the Remmey family of potters, whose combined production spanned more than a century in three of the earliest port cities in the United States: New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Many achieved some of the highest prices of the day. These would include the top lot, a circa 1875, cobalt-decorated presentation pitcher attributed to the Richard C. Remmey pottery of Philadelphia, that was decorated with brushed tulips and an incised three-masted ship and the words “John Bradleys Growler.” The catalog identified Bradley as a mariner with a long career as a Delaware River pilot who sailed ships into Philadelphia. Martin Kaye, a stoneware collector in the Philadelphia area, prevailed over competitors, paying $45,000 to “bring it back to the area.”
Attributed to Henry Remmey Jr, Baltimore, Md., circa 1825, this 11½-inch 2-gallon stoneware pitcher had incised decoration and sold for $42,000 to earn second place standing. A Mid-Atlantic collector had the top bid ($20/30,000).
A bird and floral decorated stoneware pitcher — made by Henry Remmey in Baltimore circa 1825 and discovered in New England — was a close second-place finisher; a collector in the Mid-Atlantic topped it off at $42,000. The Zipps noted it to be “the first Remmey example that we have seen potted with a short, broad body type, possibly for use on a ship.”
A stoneware collector in New England acquired an important stoneware vase made by Henry H. Remmey in Philadelphia circa 1871, for $33,600. Identified as “a ceramic work of great significance, both from decorative and historical perspectives, intimately connected to one of America’s founding potting families,” the vessel had a long history in the Remmey family before it was acquired by Crocker Farm’s consignor in the late 1980s.
A Moravian redware flask with eagle decoration and copper glaze flew to a third-place finish. It came to Crocker Farm from a collection in North Carolina that had also included a Moravian redware owl-form bottle with copper glaze. Advanced collectors bought both, with the eagle-decorated flask achieving $39,000 and the owl bottle topping off at $16,800.
Redware and stoneware made in Western Pennsylvania have been dynamic areas of the market, and that trend continued in this auction. Examples worth mentioning include a 30-gallon presentation cooler dated “1878,” that was striking not least for its size but for its delicately stenciled heron and fern motifs. A collector in West Virginia paid $16,800 for what the Zipps believe to be “among the largest examples of Nineteenth Century cobalt-decorated stoneware in existence.”
Described in the catalog as an “iconic object that combines rarity, high decorative appeal, and regional history,” this Rumble Prohibition Spaniel, made in Greensboro, Penn., and dated “June 18, 1889,” sold to a collector of Western Pennsylvania pottery for $31,200 ($10/20,000).
A stoneware spaniel, which was inscribed “R.H. Rumble / Greensboro / Greene Co., Pa. / anti-Amendment / 185 000,” sat on a wheel-thrown pedestal base signed by several Greensboro pottery workers and fetched $31,200. Considered a famous piece, it had crossed the auction block at Garth’s in 1982 but disappeared in the interim. A collector of Western Pennsylvania pottery prevailed.
A Chicago collection was the source of a 20-gallon stoneware jar with elaborate floral decoration that was described in the catalog as “outstanding” and “among the best examples of Western Pennsylvania ‘big ware’ to come to auction in recent years.” Luke and Mark Zipp described its new owner as a “major collector of Western Pennsylvania stoneware,” who acquired it for $32,400.
The same Chicago collection also sent to auction an 11-3/8-inch-tall stoneware jar with a cobalt bird that was stamped “Sam’L I. Irvine / Newville, Pa.” Mark Zipp noted that Irvine is best known for his floral decoration, and that the $26,400 the stoneware jar realized was “possibly a record for the maker and Newville stoneware makers.”
Private collectors were not the only ones competing successfully for lots, and a rare, important heart-shaped stoneware inkstand — made in Baltimore, circa 1840 — sold to a trade buyer for $31,200. The Zipps called it “an incredible piece, really extraordinary,” pointing out that despite its utilitarian purpose, it was “clearly a specially made thing.”
Measuring 5¾ inches wide and 6 inches long, this heart-shaped stoneware inkstand had profuse cobalt decoration and was attributed to the Perine Pottery of Baltimore, Md., circa 1840. It relates to one in the Maryland Center for History and Culture and sold to a trade buyer for $31,200 ($30/50,000).
Vessels made in the Lewis Miles’ Stony Bluff Manufactory in the Edgefield District, S.C., by enslaved potter David Drake, have been among the hottest commodities in the Americana field in recent years, reaching an apex in August 2021 when Crocker Farm sold an 1858 vessel for $1.56 million — the world record for Drake and American pottery. Superlative examples are still highly sought-after by institutions and advanced collectors but they come to market with less frequency. A 4-gallon alkaline-glazed stoneware jar inscribed “Dave / Lm / Aug 5. 1854,” was a recently discovered work, though condition issues kept its price to $27,600; it will be shipped to its new home in a California collection.
New York pottery in the sale saw a high bar at $28,800, for a stoneware jug stamped “F. Stetzenmeyer & Co / Rochester, N.Y.,” that was particularly noteworthy for its rooster decoration. Previously known only in photos, the catalog described it as “one of the few best examples of Stetzenmeyer stoneware that we have ever offered.” The vividly decorated piece was bagged by an advanced collector.
Other areas of stoneware production were represented as well. A rare stoneware temperance jug, made by John Louis Stone in Limestone County, Texas, was decorated with the figure of a man surrounded by three snakes and a frog. A recent discovery in Texas, it’s considered one of the finest examples of Stone’s work. It will be returning to Texas to a private collector who paid $22,800.
Prices quoted include the buyer’s premium as reported by the auction house.
Crocker Farm’s next auction is scheduled for November 6-15. For information, 410-472-2016 or www.crockerfarm.com.
