Bidders Look To Historic Frederick Douglass Face Jug At Crocker Farm – Antiques And The Arts Weekly

SPARKS, MD. — Cataloged as “highly important,” a circa 1895 face jug incised “The Hon. Fred Dougless” by J. A. Roberts of Cookeville, Tenn., was the highlight of Crocker Farm’s January 31 302-lot auction of the lifetime American ceramics collection of Carole Carpenter Wahler. The salt-glazed stoneware harvest jug had front and reverse spouts and a tree branch-form handle in addition to the hand-modeled and applied face. The catalog noted that the maker’s mark was exceptionally large and it featured an impressed price — “25 CTS” — “a rarely-seen treatment suggesting this piece may have been displayed for sale at a local event.” The 11-inch-high jug was considered to be Roberts’ masterwork, made to commemorate abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and it is one of the finest to come out of Tennessee, according to the catalog. Soaring beyond its $25/40,000 estimate, an advanced folk art collector won the historic jug for $90,000, including buyer’s premium. More results to come in a later review.