STAMPED "H.C. SMITH / ALEXA / D.C", ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA DECORATED STONEWARE PITCHER, salt-glazed, "2" gallon capacity mark, ovoid form with incised ring below rim, bold beaded neck ring, double-incised shoulder ring, and wide applied strap handle. Bold brushed cobalt horizontal flower and foliage decoration with five blooms, a horizontal tulip-like flower with foliage to each side of neck, additional cobalt to handle terminals. Made for Hugh Charles Smith (1804-1854), Wilkes Street pottery, Alexandria, VA. 1847-1850. 13" H, 5 1/8" D rim, 7" D base.
Published: Wilder - Alexandria, Virginia Pottery, 1792-1876, p. 129, figs. HCS004 and HCS004a.
Literature: Wilder - Alexandria, Virginia Pottery, 1792-1876, stamp as p. 320, fig. Mk VI.
Catalogue Note: Hugh Charles Smith, eldest son of Hugh Smith (1769-1856), partnered with his father in the management of the Wilkes Street pottery beginning in 1825. Hugh Charles, like his father, was a merchant and not a potter by trade. The stoneware vessels produced under their administration were made by numerous potters and decorators, both African American and white, hired throughout the 16-years the family owned the pottery. In 1833, Hugh Charles returned full time to the merchant business. At this time, the senior Smith officially leased the Wilkes Street pottery to potter and employee B.C. Milburn and by 1841, had sold the business to Milburn. Hugh Charles passed away at the young age of 50 in 1854.

Having old restoration to areas on rim, spout, and handle, and some scattered chips/flakes to foot edge.