A special thanks to Robert Girouard for letting me know about this piece of pottery, which is a wonderful American-made (possibly Midwestern) hand-formed whimsical red earthenware object, likely made in the late nineteenth century. I have not seen anything exactly like it before. But it also may retain a great family history!
This object was manufactured with the intent to hold something, having been formed in the shape of a tree trunk. But the large attached frog grasping the side of the trunk is the folkiest applied frog that I have ever seen on a piece of early American red earthenware.
For instance, there are certainly other examples of frogs found on early American pottery, such a variety of stoneware objects made by the Kirkpatrick brothers in Anna, Illinois, including frog pitchers, inkwells, paperweights and mugs, as well a cobalt painted frog drawn on a stoneware jug from Fort Edward, New York, circa 1875, although I have never seen a frog exactly like this one before. I think this is a great piece of American folk pottery, likely dating from the late 1800s!
Even better, though - the people I bought this object from in Missouri just acquired it a few weeks ago directly from the estate sale of a longtime antiques collector in Pittsfield, Illinois, where this person’s father was reportedly employed in a terra-cotta factory in Illinois for his entire working career, possibly in Chicago. I’m in the process of trying to identify this exact history, but I thought I would post this information for now. It’s really interesting!
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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