STAMPED "JA' BLACK. / ALEXA" DECORATED STONEWARE JAR, salt-glazed, approximately one-gallon capacity, ovoid form with flat-top rounded rim, light single-incised shoulder ring, applied tab handles, and beaded foot. Bold brushed cobalt horizontal leafy foliage decoration to front, reverse having single horizontal foliage ornament, additional cobalt to handle terminals. James Black (b.1806), Wolfe Street pottery, Alexandria, VA. 1831-1836. 9 3/4" H, 5 5/8" D rim. 
Published: Wilder - Alexandria, Virginia Pottery, 1792-1876, p. 67, figs. JB001 and JB001a; stamp p. 321, fig. Mk VIII.
Catalogue Note: James Black's career as a potter can be described as rocky and brief. He entered the pottery industry after selling the interest he had in a local grocery business to Benedict C. Milburn, a name that would also become recognizable with Alexandria stoneware. His business was up and running by 1831 but only a year later, Black had filed for bankruptcy and was placed in debtors prison. In the years following his release, he re-entered the pottery business working both for himself and/or at the Wilkes Street pottery being leased by B.C. Milburn from Hugh Smith. By 1836, Black was no longer listed in Alexandria records and current research has not revealed any further information on the remaining parts of his life.

Collection of the late Al and Billy Steidel, Alexandria, VA.

Excellent, undamaged condition, except having a minor chip to foot edge.