IMPORTANT STAMPED HENRY LOWNDES (D. 1842), PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA DECORATED STONEWARE JUG / PITCHER, salt-glazed, approximately two-gallon capacity, tapering ovoid "Staffordshire" form with applied strap handle having broad medial ridge, and pronounced foot. Brushed cobalt triple bloom flower to each side, having several applied decorations including a spread-wing eagle below spout perched to top of an ovoid medallion stamped "H-LOWNDES / MANUFACTOR / PETRSBURG / V-A," sixteen stars to shoulder and body, and an eight-petal flower to spout, additional brushed cobalt to the rim, spout, handle, and applied designs. Henry Lowndes, Petersburg, VA. 1835-1840. 11 3/4" HOA, 6 7/8" D rim, 6 1/2" D base.
Published: "Stoneware of Eastern Virginia" by Robert Hunter, Kurt C. Russ, and Marshall Goodman, p. 127 in The Magazine Antiques, April 2005.
Literature: Parallels Hunter (ed.) - Ceramics in America 2013, p. 247, fig. 73, "The Remarkable 19th-Century Stoneware of Virginia's Lower James River Valley" by Kurt C. Russ, Robert Hunter, Oliver Mueller-Heubach, and Marshall Goodman.
Catalogue Note: Henry Lowndes was the son of potter Thomas Lowndes, who immigrated to America in 1805 from Staffordshire, England. Little is known about the pieces produced by the elder Lowndes, however, Henry took over the family business in 1811 after his father's death. Many of Lowndes' pieces reflect his Staffordshire heritage, including this jug with its spread-wing American eagle with stars. A similar form pearlware jug with eagle decoration can be seen on William Adams' dark blue transfer-printed American Eagle example pictured in Sam Laidlacker's Anglo-American China, Part I, on page 3, A1. Perhaps Lowndes took some inspiration from this piece when he created this splendid jug.

Excellent condition with some professional restoration to spout and rim chips, a minor chip to the foot, a radial hairline to the lower body, and a 1" rim hairline.