EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Tennessee Stoneware Jar that Will Sell Later this Month Through Case Antiques in Knoxville, Tennessee

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

A Tennessee Stoneware Jar that Will Sell Later this Month Through Case Antiques in Knoxville, Tennessee

According to Case Antiques in Knoxville, Tennessee, "This late 19th or early-20th-century double-handled four-gallon middle or west Tennessee stoneware jar (see below) is decorated with two sine wave bands around the shoulder and four incised lines around the neck and shoulder. The jar (or jug) is also decorated with a vertical inscription on the upper midsection reading 'W. J. Morris / His Jug." Case antiques will sell this object later this month on January 23, 2016.

Pictured in the article, 'Fluid Vessel: A Journey of the Jug' written by John A. Burrison for the 2006 edition of Ceramics in America is a huge stoneware water cooler (26 1/8") that was made by Tinsley Craven in Henderson County, Tennessee in the nineteenth-century. It is dated, '1855.' For a comparison: there are obvious differences between that important object and this wonderful jar of discussion; although, there are also some similarities, too. I'm not saying that there is a direct relationship, but there might be by means of the Craven family, who was a family of potters in Tennessee, who continued the tradition of stoneware production from the 1800's into the twentieth-century.

The water cooler from Ceramics in America is also pictured in an article that was written for 'Antiques and the Arts Weekly.' Interestingly, there is an inscription on this object that reads, "Made for Dr. Brown / August the 15th, 1855 / Red Mound, Tenn."

19th Century Stoneware Water Cooler Made by Tinsley Craven in Henderson County, TN
Marked with Tinsley Craven's Stamp

Inscribed "Made for Dr. Brown / August the 15th, 1855 / Red Mound, Tenn."

Stands 26 1/8" Tall

Photo Courtesy: Antiques and the Arts Weekly - Newtown, CT

There is a distinct characteristic that can be seen on the water cooler shown above and this next jar that was also produced by the Craven family in Tennessee. This is a characteristic that was often applied on the larger forms manufactured at the Craven Pottery; according to Williams American Art in Knoxville, Tennessee, "Much of the Craven Pottery is very distinctive. The juncture of two separating turned pieces is concealed with bands of clay, thus a decorative band around the midsection." You can see this type of decoration on the following jar, which appeared on the 'Antiques Roadshow in 2004 with an appraised insurance estimate of $20,000 to $40,000.

Large 19th Century Stoneware Jar Attributed to the Craven Pottery in Tennessee
Notice the Decoration Around the Midsection of the Jar

Circa 1840

Photo Courtesy: Antiques Roadshow, PBS

I also noticed that there are some characteristics found on the jar that will sell through Case Antiques that are also comparable to some of the products produced at the Charles Decker Pottery in Washington County, Tennessee. According to the book, 'The Pottery of Charles F. Decker: A Life Well Made,' "Charles F. Decker, like millions of other immigrants, gave up the land of his birth and came with his family daring to find a better future in the United States. The path he took has left Tennessee with some lasting treasures. He began a lifelong career while still in his teenage years working with a potter in Philadelphia. By the time he was twenty-five he had established his own 'Keystone Pottery' in Philadelphia in 1857. Subsequent moves carried him to Delaware, Virginia, and Tennessee, where he chose to settle along the Nolichucky River in Washington County.

The types of wares Decker produced come in an amazing variety, from common unglazed drain pipes and paving bricks, through utilitarian jars, pots, bowls, churns, and jugs, to more unusual items such as vases, bottles, banks, horns, chimney tops, funnels, and ultimately highly decorative pieces such as yard ornaments, tombstones, past caps, flower stands, and personalized pieces, Many of these styles, forms, and colors are particularly common to Pennsylvania, which obviously influenced Decker.

Decker created his business to meet the needs of his family, and four of his children joined him in working as potters until Decker's death on March 11, 1914. The pottery grew over the years from a family business to a small industry with up to twenty-five employees. The area of service expanded to cover eastern Tennessee as well as part of Kentucky, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Georgia."

I don't have the experience with Tennessee stoneware to say where this jar was made; although, I do find it intriguing that it seems to exhibit some influences found at two of the more-prominent stoneware potteries in all-of Tennessee in the nineteenth and early-twentieth-centuries. It's also great that this jar has a personal connection, to an individual, whom I presume it was made - at least, that's my interpretation of the inscription. An observation: the color of the clay seen on this jar also seems to resemble some of the products that were made in North Carolina in the late-nineteenth and twentieth-centuries.