SPARKS, MD. — Crocker Farm’s Fall 2022 Stoneware Auction occurred on November 18, offering almost 600 lots of stoneware and redware of all decorations and glazes. The victor of the sale was a highly important stoneware pitcher with an incised cobalt federal eagle decoration that achieved $264,000, including buyer’s premium. Impressed with the name “John L. Wessell,” of New York, the pitcher was dated “September 15th 1806.” Made for local cabinetmaker, John Wessells (here “Wessell”), this is one of the earliest appearances of an eagle in American stoneware medium and one of only a few known eagle motifs from the city of New York. The image is adapted from the original 1782 design of the Great Seal of the United States, and the floral motifs flanking the eagle are a firm attribution to the pottering Crolius family. More on this and other top lots in an upcoming issue.