Lot 231: 2 East TN Stoneware Pottery Jars, attrib. John E. Glass

Two (2) East Tennessee salt-glazed stoneware pottery crocks, attributed to John E. Glass, working in Bount County, slight bell form with flattened rolled rims, stamped “1” denoting capacity within an incised stylised diamond or fish, and bevelled base. One jar retains an exhibition label for the 2011 “Tennessee Turned: Earthenware and Stoneware Made in East Tennessee 1800-1900” exhibit held at the East Tennessee Historical Society. 9 1/4 in. H and 9 7/8 in. H. Circa 1857 – 1860. Note: John E. Glass is listed as a potter in an 1858 directory of Blount County businesses. On the 1860 census, he is identified as a 39-year-old potter living without land adjacent to David Grindstaff, father of the potter William Grindstaff. Glass appears to have started a pottery factory on David Grindstaff’s property, and William Grindstaff began to work with him, eventually establishing a pottery business in his own name. (Source: Tennessee Potteries, Pots, and Potters – 1790s – 1950, Volume 1, Samuel D. Smith and Stephen T. Rogers, 2011). This lot also contains an associated, possibly Blount County, salt-glazed stoneware pottery shard with an incised maple leaf design and 1/2 capacity mark.

PROVENANCE:

The collection of Marty and David Black, Rockford, TN.

CONDITION:

Both jars with chips to the rim and scattered firing flaws.