Flask

Artist/Maker
Webster, Chester __Attributed to
Place Made
Hartford Connecticut United States of America
Date Made
1820-1827
Medium
salt glazed –stoneware
Dimensions
HOA: 6 3/8″; WOA: 1 1/4″
Accession Number
5813.42
Description
This piece was thrown on a pottery wheel in a round shape, it was then flattened to make a flask. It has a bird incised on one side; the bird has intricate decorative details, including a crest, a ring around its neck, and various shapes to accentuate the wings and tail. On the opposite side is a floral design emerging from a large urn with scrolled handles. On the sides of the flask are incised vines, and the neck has incised loops and dots. All of the incised designs are brushed with cobalt blue slip.

MAKER: Born in 1799, Chester Webster was one of several family members who were employed at pottery factories in the Hartford, Connecticut, area. Chester Webster moved to North Carolina in 1827, likely joining his brother Edward in Fayetteville before the family moved to Randolph County. Several pioneering stoneware potters who eventually made their mark in southern states began their careers in northern locales. Such was the case for the Webster family, whose founding family members were born in Connecticut but in the early nineteenth century made their way to North Carolina, first to Fayetteville and then to Randolph County. In North Carolina the work of the Webster family was exuberant and had a strong decorative appeal, particularly the incised designs that are often attributed to Chester Webster. This salt-glazed stoneware flask with an elaborate incised design is a rare piece attributable to Chester Webster’s beginnings in Connecticut.

Scarborough, Quincy.” The Webster School of Folk Potters.” Fayetteville, NC: The Quincy Scarborough Companies, 2009.

History
The flask has a history of ownership in the Northeast.
Credit Line
The William C. and Susan S. Mariner Collection