This is a nineteenth century stoneware figure of a spaniel that I have always admired made by John Lewis Stone (1850-1927) in Limestone County, Texas. Stone was born in Kentucky, and before he arrived in Texas, he was a Midwestern trained potter. Stone wrote a letter published in the May 1923 issue of Brick and Clay Record that provided a brief, but detailed account of his training. He wrote that in 1860 he worked for the Kirkpatrick Brothers in Anna, Illinois, when he was only ten years old. He later apprenticed in the late 1860s in Mound City, Illinois. And by 1870, he had moved to Texas, where he managed William Knox's pottery in Oletha; he also worked for the pottery's subsequent owner John Fowler until 1875. Later on he worked for the Kosse Brick and Tile Company/Kosse Pottery and Brick Works in Limestone County.
The Kirkpatrick influence in Stone's Texas production is obvious today by some figural temperance snake jugs that exist, including one that is in the collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Although, this circa 1870-1880 spaniel is also in the museum's collection; the front is marked with Stone's initials "J.L.S." It may have been originally manufactured with the intent to be used as a doorstop. The spaniel is molded with some of the features created with hand incising. This type of figural production from Texas is considered extremely rare today.
19th Century Stoneware Spaniel Made in Limestone County, Texas
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