Greene County, TN slip and copper oxide decorated redware jar by Christopher Alexander Haun, 1821-1861. Marked on upper rim with the stamped letters “C A Haun ” and compass flower stamping. Condition – old chips to one handle, abrasions and expected wear to body. One hairline crack from mouth about three inches in length. 13″ H. Note – Haun was a Union sympathizer during the Civil War and participated in burning a Confederate railroad bridge (Lick Creek) in Greene County, TN. This important event in East Tennessee’s Civil War history was initiated with a campaign by Union loyalists to burn 9 bridges. It was led by William B. Carter and strongly supported and encouraged by President Abraham Lincoln. Several potters from the Pottertown, TN area were among the men who conspired and succeeded in burning the bridge. The potters decided not to capture or kill the Confederate bridge guards but allowed them to go free based upon their solemn promises to not reveal their identities. Union troops did not materialize as promised, and the Confederates were able to pursue and capture some of the perpetrators. The Confederate guards, who were allowed to live, were the very ones who served as witnesses to implicate the five men who were hung, four of them potters. Among those sentenced to hang was the potter Christopher Alexander Haun. On December 11th, 1861, Haun was hung from the gallows in Knoxville, TN. Of the handful of marked C.A. Haun jars known, the combination of yellow slip and copper oxide decoration is unique to this example. For another marked example of Christopher Haun’s pottery, refer to the Art of Tennessee, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, p. 115, figure 82. The relationship between Haun and another potter from Greene County, John Alexander Lowe (1833-1902), is not completely known at this time but a marked J. A. Lowe jar sold by this auction house in September 2008 displayed similar characteristics to known C. A. Haun jars. The general form of the jar, the appearance of the extruded handles with decoration at the handle attachments, and the stamp design around the shoulder of the jar with the name of the potter are all similar to marked C. A. Haun jars. In his last hours, Haun wrote to his wife and said ¨have Bohanan, Hinshaw or Low to finish off that ware and do the best you can with it for your support.¨ Whether Lowe apprenticed under C. A. Haun is not known at this time. Lowe enlisted in the Confederate Army two days after Christopher Alexander Haun was hung by Confederate forces.