STAMPED "J.MILLER" VA OR DC DECORATED SALT-GLAZED S

STAMPED "J.MILLER" VA OR DC DECORATED SALT-GLAZED STONEWARE JAR, "3" gallon capacity stamp, tall ovoid form with irregular high collar rim and small pulled handles, dark brown to tan boy with brushed cobalt fern-like decoration on one side, additional cobalt at handles, maker's mark is fairly light. James Miller, Alexandria, VA or Georgetown, DC. 1820-1826. 13 1/2" h, 8 1/4" x 9 1/2" rim.
Reference: Wilder, p. 318, Mk II.
Provenance: .
Note: The capacity stamp on this jar, which shows a partial dotted frame, is previously unrecorded. Wilder makes note in his recently published {{Alexander, Virginia Pottery 1792-1876}}, p. 60, "No pieces known to the author exhibit impressed capacity stamps." He also notes that "Very few specimens of Miller's stoneware are found today, making them exceedingly rare." This jar is very well potted with unusually thin walls, despite its out-of-round rim. The exterior appears to have been coated with a dark slip, possibly manganese, before it was decorated; a small amount of the slip can be seen on the inner rim. The jar was then fired at a high temperature turning the clay into a very hard vitreous stoneware.

Undamaged except for some light rim chips