Crocker Farm, Inc., Sparks, Maryland
Photos courtesy Crocker Farm, Inc.
The Zipps of Crocker Farm held their third sale of 2024 from November 6 to 15, with the call-back session on November 16. The 490-lot auction grossed $719,460 (including buyers’ premiums). The printed catalog had 348 lots, and there were 458 registered bidders. Adding this sale to the spring and summer sales, the total gross for 2024 was $3,832,080. This fall sale was without any monumental standout pieces, but in typical fashion it had a full spectrum of northeastern and mid-Atlantic stoneware, some interesting midwestern pieces, and also southern material. There was some quality Pennsylvania redware too.
A few major consignors did not participate on the buying or selling side, and there were plenty of events directing national attention elsewhere, such as the election. Nonetheless, it was nearly a white-glove sale. “Just one lot passed. We work really hard to not reserve much and keep estimates reasonable,” noted Mark Zipp.
This six-gallon stoneware crock, 14" tall, with elaborate lion decoration and stamped “F. STETZENMEYER. / ROCHESTER, N.Y.,” sold for $36,000 (est. $20,000/30,000). It was once broken and has been restored, including touch-up to the decoration.
One headliner was a Stetzenmeyer lion crock. Even with its condition problems (it was broken and restored and had touch-up to the cobalt, and fluorescence to the decoration on the tail and hind legs could be seen under black light), it realized $36,000. “We were happy with the lion. It is still one of two known, exceptional given the decoration,” mentioned Zipp. In 2015 a similar six-gallon front-facing lion crock, also restored, sold for $21,850.
A rare item, this circa 1928 glazed and cold-painted redware apple-form jar with a lid, 5½" high including the lid, stamped twice on the bottom “WINCHESTER, VA.,” attributed to Theodore “Thedy” Fleet of Round Hill Pottery, Frederick County, Virginia, a wheel-thrown ovoid form in the shape of an apple with applied clay leaves, sold to a Pennsylvania folk-art collector for $18,000 (est. $1500/2500). “The price marks a new a record,” noted Mark Zipp. The catalog called the jar “arguably the finest example of Round Hill pottery that we have ever offered.”
The first example of Round Hill pottery in a Crocker Farm sale featuring a sculptural form, the jar speaks to the Shenandoah Valley’s prosperous apple industry and may have been made to be sold at the annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, held in Winchester. While this jar bears a rarer, early period “WINCHESTER, VA.” stamp, later pieces from this shop feature a maker’s mark surrounded by the outline of an apple, further signifying the importance of the fruit to the region.
Although it was from the 20th century, a glazed and cold-painted redware apple-form jar with a lid, stamped twice “WINCHESTER, VA.,” attributed to Theodore “Thedy” Fleet of Round Hill Pottery, Frederick County, Virginia, circa 1928, set an auction record when it brought $18,000. It went to a Pennsylvania folk-art collector.
A rare object yet no stranger to the market, this Moravian molded redware turtle bottle with copper glaze, 6¾" long, from Salem, North Carolina, 1800-50, the underside with hand-incised details to the feet and tail, with some condition problems, sold for $16,800 (est. $8000/12,000).
Selling for $16,800 was a rare Moravian redware turtle bottle from Salem, North Carolina, dating from the first half of the 19th century. In Johanna Brown’s 2009 Ceramics in America article “Tradition and Adaptation in Moravian Press-Molded Earthenware,” she notes that two different types of turtle bottles, sometimes recorded in Salem pottery inventories as “terrapins,” were produced. In her 2010 Ceramics in America article “A Recently Discovered Moravian Turtle Bottle,” Brown suggests that the mold for this particular type, with its distinctive shell, was produced from an eastern box turtle.
Among Moravian figural objects, the turtle bottle form ranks among the most elusive because of its low survival rate. This example had some condition problems, including a hole in the underside, surface flakes, a crack in the top of the bottle/flask, and a shortened and worn spout. There was also a chip to the turtle’s chin. It had sold for $45,000 at Crocker Farm’s spring 2023 sale. Most observers know a market can be dictated by a small number of people, and it matters how many of them are active at a given time.
This six-gallon stoneware crock, circa 1855, impressed “J. & E. NORTON / BENNINGTON, VT,” 14" tall, with stag and doe decoration, realized $45,000 (est. $25,000/45,000). It exhibits the distinctive decorative style of slip trailing executed by John Hilfinger.
A J. & E. Norton double-deer-decorated six-gallon crock, with the distinctive decorative style of slip trailing executed by John Hilfinger (1826-1888), sold for $45,000. Hilfinger was a native of Wurttemberg, Germany; his artwork can be found on pieces produced at potteries in New York state and most notably at the Julius and Edward Norton pottery in Bennington, Vermont, circa 1855.
The calendar year for 2025 is a full one for Crocker Farm, beginning with the January 22-31 single-owner sale of the collection of Dr. Carole Carpenter Wahler (1937-2023). Crocker Farm will also hold its regular spring, summer, and fall sales.
For additional information, call (410) 472-2016 or visit the website (www.crockerfarm.com).
Bringing $13,200 (est. $6000/12,000) was this early stoneware jug, 12¼" tall, with all known stamps used by Thomas Commeraw. Instead of just “COMMERAW’S / STONEWARE” or “CORLEARS / HOOK” this one-gallon ovoid jug reads “COMMERAWS / STONEWARE / CORLEARS / HOOK / N. YORK.”
This early one-gallon stoneware jar, 7½" tall, stamped “LIBERTY FOREV / S.AMBOY.N.JERSY,” with an impressed scalloped-edge drape motif, a squat form, an ovoid body, and open handles, brought $10,200 (est. $4000/6000). It is a fine example of work from the operation of Thomas Warne and Joshua Letts in South Amboy, New Jersey.
The molded salt-glazed stoneware pig flask, 6¾" long, known as the “Railroad & River Guide,” signed and dated “By Anna Pottery / 1883” and considered a very fine Anna Pottery pig flask, sold for $13,200 (est. $5000/8000).
Showing an ambitious use of applied and impressed decoration, this large stoneware growler, 12" high, with an applied figural motif, attributed to New Ulm, Minnesota, circa 1885, a wheel-thrown cylindrical form, sold for $6600 (est. $5000/7000). The body of the mug is profusely decorated with individually impressed geometric motifs, and the interior is glazed in Albany slip.
This outstanding Albany-slip-glazed stoneware black preacher bank, 8" high, probably Alabama origin, circa 1885, a wheel-thrown semi-ovoid form with a hand-modeled and applied clay face, may have been used at a church to raise funds. With losses to the hat brim and right ear, the bank, ex-Allan Katz, realized $7800 (est. $5000/7000).
The Cowden & Wilcox one-gallon stoneware cake crock, 6 7/8" high x 8½" diameter, with “man in the moon” decoration realized $5700 (est. $4000/6000).
This Pennsylvania dotted redware tart plate, 3 7/8" diameter, went for $1020 (est. $400/600).
This one-gallon stoneware jar, 8" tall, stamped “Cowden & Wilcox. / Harrisburg, PA,” with swan decoration, sold for $1440 (est. $600/1000). It has a sealed break around the base.
The rare redware serving dish, 4 3/16" high x 8½" diameter, with two-color slip decoration, Pennsylvania origin, a wheel-thrown form with rounded walls attached to a wheel-thrown pedestal base, brought $9600 (est. $2500/4500).
The glazed redware pitcher, 6¾" high, with incised eagle and bird designs, attributed to Jacob Medinger, early 20th century, with some restoration, sold for $300 (est. $200/300).
This 16-gallon decorated stoneware jar, 22" tall, stenciled with rose motifs and “James Hamilton & Co. / Greensboro / PA. / 16,” circa 1875, sold for $3120 (est. $2500/4000).
The tanware pitcher, 6" tall, with a sgraffito “1889,” either New Geneva or Greensboro, Pennsylvania, stylishly potted with angular moldings to the midsection and a tall, flaring collar, the body dipped in Albany slip, realized $2640 (est. $800/1200).
Originally published in the February 2025 issue of Maine Antique Digest. © 2025 Maine Antique Digest
