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Lot 314
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18th C. American Salt-Glazed Stoneware Mugs with Cobalt Bands
18th C. American Salt-Glazed Stoneware Mugs with Cobalt Bands
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North America, United States, Northeastern, ca. 1780–1850 CE. A pair of sturdy salt-glazed stoneware mugs from the workshops of the American Northeast, each thrown with a gently tapered cylindrical body, a pulled loop handle, and the warm, pebbled surface that only a wood-fired kiln and a generous toss of salt could conjure. Bands of cobalt blue circle each vessel at the shoulder and foot, the pigment bleeding softly into the gray ground in the unhurried manner of mid-century utilitarian wares. The interiors reveal the throwing rings of a practiced hand, while the exteriors carry the orange-peel pitting characteristic of vapor glazing.

Mugs of this form served the everyday rhythms of the nineteenth-century American household and tavern, dispensing cider, small beer, and buttermilk in equal measure. Produced in the great stoneware belt that stretched from New Jersey through New York State and into New England, salt-glazed vessels with simple cobalt accents were the workhorse ceramic of the era, cheap enough for daily use yet durable enough to survive generations of hard service. Their understated decoration, a few swift brushstrokes rather than the elaborate cobalt florals of presentation pieces, places them firmly within the vernacular tradition that defined American country pottery before the rise of industrial whiteware displaced it at the century's close. Size of larger: 4.5" W x 4.5" H x 3.2" D (11.4 cm W x 11.4 cm H x 8.1 cm D).

Provenance: ex-private collection, Fairhaven, Massachusetts, USA, collected from 2010 to 2015

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Item # 198487

  • Condition: Very Good. A few minor chips, abrasions, and stable hairline fissures, but, otherwise, both are intact and very nice with good remains of glaze.

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by Artemis Fine Arts
June 25, 2026 9:00 AM MDT
686 S. Taylor Avenue
Suite 108
Louisville, CO, US 80027

Artemis Fine Arts

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000