Date: Fri 13-Nov-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: DAVIDS

Quick Words:

Stoneware

Full Text:

Stoneware Postsale

(with cuts)

CLARENCE, N.Y. -- mail and phone bid auction featuring more than 300 pieces of

decorated American stoneware was presented recently by Bruce and Vicki

Waasdorp.

The sale, which closed for bidding on October 4, featured a wide variety of

middle-line stoneware, along with a small grouping of select crocks and jugs.

The auction posted a sold rate of more than 95 percent with only seven lots

not meeting reserves and an additional seven lots failing to elicit any bids.

The top lot of the sale was a five-gallon churn marked T. Harrington, Lyons.

It was decorated with a large bushy-tailed fox. The fox, in a startled

position with its head cocked and looking backward, had a nice spotted back

and was standing on sparsely decorated ground. Condition on the piece was

good, with the catalogue listing a "stabilized J-shaped crack in front,

extending through the decoration." The rare churn had a minimum bid of $3,500,

a mark which was easily surpassed as it sold for $5,775, including the ten

percent buyer's premium.

Another of the Harrington crocks that did well was a three-gallon cream pot

with starface design. In overall good condition, with two small hairline

cracks on each side, the piece carried a minimum bid of $1,500 and sold for

$3,520.

A four-gallon ovoid crock marked J.M. Burney and Son, Jordan, with a large

folky mourning dove-type bird perched on a foliated branch, was also among the

top selling lots. It commanded $3,740. Condition on this piece was also good

overall, with a glued crack in the rear.

Other top lots included: an unusual West Troy five-gallon low-sided cake-style

crock decorated with a large standing dog amidst profusely decorated ground,

$2,750; a nice early jar marked S. Amboy with incised and blue filled swag

decoration, $2,530; and a one-gallon jar with incised floral on one side and

the reverse marked J. Remmey, Manhattan Wells, New York, $3,410.

Several pieces from the Macquoid Pottery were offered in the sale. The top lot

was an unsigned one-gallon pitcher with large floral decoration. It sold at

$2,530, more than three times the minimum bid. Also offered was a three-gallon

jar decorated with two large cherries hanging from a leafy sprig. It realized

$1,375. One Macquoid piece in the sale that attracted a great deal of interest

was a pitcher decorated with a man raising a mug while making a toast with

"Good Luck" written in blue across the front of the piece. A minimum bid of

$3,500 was not met, however.

Two unusual pieces in the sale eliciting strong bids included a one-quart size

pitcher in the form of a dog with a blue-decorated snout, ears and handle. The

piece was attributed to the Lyons pottery and sold well beyond the $800

minimum bid. It garnered $2,420. The other piece that captured a great deal of

interest was an unusual cylindrical pitcher with a flared base made by the

Bodine Pottery Co, Zanesville, Ohio. The rare pitcher was made with tinware

straps, spout, hinged lid and bale wire handle. The piece carried a modest

minimum bid of $100, yet when the auction closed, the piece had been bid to

$1,375.

Prices include the ten percent buyer's premium. For further information,

contact Bruce and Vicki Waasdorp, PO Box 434, Clarence, N.Y. 14031,

716/759-2361.

David S. Smith