STAMPED BELL, STRASBURG AND / OR WINCHESTER, SHENANDOAH VALLEY OF VIRGINIA STONEWARE JARS, LOT OF TWO, salt-glazed, each having "1" gallon capacity mark, of cylindrical form with squared rim and collared neck, comprising one stamped "BELL" and one stamped "SOLOMON BELL / STRASBURG / Va". One having brushed cobalt dropped feather decoration repeated three times to shoulder. Undecorated example: Probably Peter, Samuel, or Solomon Bell at Winchester, VA; possibly Samuel or Solomon Bell at Strasburg, VA. Decorated example: The shop of Solomon Bell (1817-1882), Strasburg, VA. 1830-1880. 8 7/8" and 10 1/2" H.
Literature: Stamps as Comstock - Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley Region, p. 211, fig. 5.34 and p. 240, fig. 5.117, mistakenly identified as a later stamp for the S. Bell & Son pottery.
Provenance: From a private Virginia collection.
Decorated example with chip to rim, otherwise undamaged; undecorated example with some minor flakes to rim and hairline crack extending from base.