19th Century Lead Glazed Country Earthenware Pitcher with Slip Decorations; Green with Mustard Yellow Mottling

Here's a mid-19th Century pottery pitcher in very good condition. Bulbous in shape and showing lots of age, it is lead glazed with an oxide-created color blend of green and mustard yellow inside and out. There's mottling all around the piece, giving it a gorgeous, folksy appearance. The interior is completely glazed while the glaze on the exterior stops just short of the bottom on this piece. The underside was never glazed. These unglazed areas have an old, dry, and worn patina from generations of past use that we have not cleaned. There are whimsical slip decorations in what look like trees in three places on the exterior. While not cracked, it does show plenty of evidence of past use, namely chipping around the opening and a couple, very short, tight hairlines from the rim downward. There is an old, pitted spot near the bottom. This pitcher has an applied handle that is in very nice shape and has never been broken. Surviving pieces of utilitarian pottery such as this typically have damage from having been used daily back in its time. These flaws help to authenticate old redware/earthenware pottery and don't seriously harm their value or desirability. This piece is structurally sound and guaranteed not to be in any danger of breaking or falling apart.

As for measurements, this early piece stands about 10 inches high and has a bottom diameter of 4 3/4 inches while the opening is about 5 1/8 inches across, including the spout. The widest point is the bulbous midsection, measuring about 7 1/2 inches across, not including the handle. Rugged and much heavier than it looks, this is a very solid piece of pottery. As the photos show, it's a handsome, antique earthenware pitcher that displays very nicely. Old and authentic, you won't be disappointed in this piece!