19th Century Stoneware Jug with Incised Decoration of a Man Holding a Jug that Sold Today at Brunk Auctions in North Carolina

Some great objects sold today at Brunk Auctions in Asheville, North Carolina, although one of my favorites in the sale was a nineteenth century stoneware jug with some cobalt highlighting an incised decoration of a man wearing a top hat and tails, holding a jug (probably representing alcohol) and possibly keeping his balance with a walking stick or cane. The jug was consigned as part of a very good collection of antiques in the Portsmouth, New Hampshire area, however it previously sold at Pook and Pook in Downington, Pennsylvania in 2012 for $5,214 including the buyer's premium, whereas today it sold for $8,500 plus the buyer's premium.

Nevertheless, the jug also slightly reminded me of a nineteenth century stoneware jar that sold earlier this year, which was described by the auctioneer at Summer Antiques in Essex, New York: "I believe the figure on this crock is a long haired drunk with a hat on the front looking at a drink with a crazy happy look. Then you see on the back what the drink did to him - it made him turn into a devil and decapitate his whole body with all his members floating around his devil body with a tail and knife in hand, and sticking something up his butt of decapitated torso. All the designs are incised and decorated in blue. The design could be a temperance piece or just a person struggling with alcohol and that person could be the potter who made it" -- http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/04/two-good-examples-of-19th-century.html.

It is certainly much later than the manufacture of this jug, although one of Bill Brandt's (1904-1983) famous photographs is titled, "After the Celebration," where he photographed a drunken man in a top hat and tails clinging to a lamp-post in early morning fog in London in 1934. This photograph has been copied and imitated throughout twentieth century British popular culture; Brandt is regarded as the finest British photographer of modern times. 

However, the subject incised on this jug certainly makes me wonder what the circumstances were that got a potter or someone at a pottery business to create such a scene. A wonderful example of American Folk Art, nonetheless! 

Stoneware Jug with Incised Decoration of a Man Holding a Jug

19th Century Stoneware Jug Made in the American Northeast

Incised with a Decoration of a Man Holding a Jug

Some of the Decoration is Highlighted with Cobalt

Stands 16 1/4" Tall

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Photo Courtesy: Brunk Auctions

"After the Celebration"

Photographed by Bill Brandt in London in 1934

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Photo Courtesy: Victoria & Albert Museum

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