Four-gallon Storage Jar
Date1858-1862
Maker
Thomas W. Keesee and David Parr (Keesee & Parr)
MediumSalt-glazed stoneware
DimensionsOH: 15 1/2 in.; ODiameter (widest part of the body): 10 5/8 in. (39.37 × 26.99cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Antique Collectors' Guild
Object number2025.900.2
DescriptionStorage Jar: Four-gallon salt-glazed stoneware storage jar of cylindrical shape rising to rolled and slightly flared corded mouth; two lug handles flank the body at the high shoulder; the body decorated in cobalt with a stylized leafy tulip on either side. The handle terminals picked out in cobalt.Label TextThis jar bears the very rare mark by the Richmond pottery partnership of Thomas Keesee and David Parr. Thomas Keesee was a Richmond auctioneer and provided the financial backing in the partnership whereas working potter David Parr provided the manufacturing skill. Keesee and Parr pottery fragments turn up archaeologically in Williamsburg and newspapers advertised the availability of their wares throughout Virginia in the mid-19th century. A surviving handbill from the pottery published in the 2013 issue of Ceramics in America lists four gallon “Jugs, Pitchers, and Jars” at $8.00 per dozen.Mark(s)Under the tulip on one side is the stamped capacity mark “4” above the factory stamp: “KEESEE & PARR.” in an arc above “RICHMOND, / VIRGINIA.”ProvenancePrior to 2023, Curtis Rice (Virginia); 2023-2025, purchased by Robert Hunter (Yorktown, VA); October 2025-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)
