Furthermore, another example of Lent's stoneware from this period of production in Troy, New York is owned by the Brooklyn Museum in New York City, bearing the same maker's mark and incised with a perched bird and floral decoration, also highlighted with cobalt. This jug was acquired by the museum from the collection of Arthur W. Clement (1878-1952), who was a collector of early American ceramics and an important donor of pottery to museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan and the Brooklyn Museum : https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/103308. There are also some other examples of Lent's marked production from Troy owned in private collections, some of which are simply decorated with cobalt, while others are adorned with incised decorations highlighted with cobalt.
Nevertheless, a very good single-owner private collection of 40 or so pieces of stoneware will soon be available through Antiques Associates at West Townsend in Massachusetts, where the collection will include an important example of Lent's circa 1825-1843 production in Lansingburgh, New York, perhaps made as early as 1825; today Lansingburgh is a section of Troy, but from 1791 until 1901 it was a separate community. Additionally, Lent was an early and influential stoneware potter in New York, spending time working in Cornwall, Albany, Troy, Poughkeepsie and Lansingburgh, among other locations.
I personally feel this is one of Lent's most important surviving objects known today (perhaps even the most important example), seeing that it is both marked "G. Lent / Lansingburgh," and the decoration also helps connect pieces to Lent's production in New York that are not marked with his name. The incised work on this object is a masterpiece in itself, which includes two pomegranates and multiple branches covered in leaves. This is a style of incised decoration also thought to have been produced in Manhattan in the 1700s, whereas this Lansingburgh jug is probably physical proof that connects New York City to upstate New York. Needless to say, this is an important example of nineteenth century New York State stoneware that survives in basically as-made condition.
Note: There are also a few other marked examples of Lent's production from Lansingburgh known that are decorated with simple cobalt designs, but any type of marked pottery made by Lent is considered a prize today and rare, such as a cobalt decorated jug marked "G. Lent / Troy" that recently sold at auction in Saratoga, New York for a little over $2,000, including the buyer's premium: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/148970600_ny-blue-decorated-g-lent-troy-ny-ovoid-blue-decorated-flower-bunch-stoneware-jug.
An Important Example of 19th Century New York State Stoneware
1 comment:
My goodness, look at those jugs!
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