This good example of a circa 1920s to 1930s Chinese blue glazed Han Dynasty style stoneware vase made at Jugtown in Seagrove, North Carolina sold today at Freeman's | Hindman in Philadelphia, whereas the base is stamped "JUGTOWN WARE." Furthermore, the base retains an old sticker indicating that this object was sold by David Rago in New Jersey in 1993, having previously been owned privately in New York City.
According to an academic thesis written by Mary Jean Crawford for the University of North Carolina in 1962, titled, Jugtown Pottery: History and Design, “When the present Jugtown first began operations in 1917, its output was almost exclusively the traditional and utilitarian shapes. But some years later, Tiffany Studios in New York, a customer of Jugtown Pottery, suggested that they make some decorative pieces.”
Chinese pottery found in museums and libraries in New York City, especially the Metropolitan Museum of Art, served as inspiration, with an emphasis of the pottery made during the Han, Tang and Sung dynasties. Artist Jacques Busbee (1870-1947) and Jugtown potter Ben Owen (1904-1983) brought these unfamiliar shapes to North Carolina, and ancient pottery made in China, Persia and Korea provided them with motivation.
Crawford additionally says, “The Chinese blue or blue-green glaze was Jugtown’s most prized glaze and, according to one authority, some of the best pieces of Jugtown Pottery, usually the Chinese translations, had the Chinese blue glaze. Mr Busbee mixed this glaze, and after his death, his wife Juliana Busbee (1876-1962) requested that, in memory of her husband, the blue-green glaze not be used on Jugtown Pottery. Ben Owen said only Mr Busbee knew the formula for this glaze.”
Nevertheless, this vase sold today for $650 plus the buyer's premium.
Note: Here is a link to a similar although slightly smaller Han Dynasty style vase from Jugtown that I posted a story about on this website in November of 2023:
http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2023/11/an-excellent-circa-1920s-1930s-han.html.
Here is also a link to a feature story that I wrote, which shows some of these types of objects from Jugtown that I have found over the past few years in the Northeast; the story ran in the September 22, 2023 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, A Wide Selection Of 20th Century Pottery From North Carolina Found In New England: A Brief Examination Of Asian-Influenced Pottery From Jugtown Pottery:
http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2023/09/new-published-story-in-antiques-auction_19.html.
Chinese Blue Glazed Stoneware Han Dynasty Style Vase from Jugtown
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
No comments:
Post a Comment