31: VERY RARE J. E. MERRIMAN SANTA FE ILLINOIS STONEWARE

The salt glazed stoneware churn with stenciled cobalt decoration and an impressed numeral 4 near one lug handle is lettered M F G BY J. E. MERRIMAN above the rough-hewn stenciled depiction of a flowerhead over uneven lettering of SANTA FE I LL. The primitive nature of the decoration and the absence of a single other similar example on record suggests that this could be a unique example.

In 2014, a Merriman 4 gallon churn with patriotic theme decoration in cobalt slip was sold for $11,000. Only four sales records for examples by this Illinois maker founded around 1856 could be found.
Measures 16.25 x 9 inches.
Fair condition, noting a chip at the rim and major cracks at, and around, the base as shown.
$1,000 - $5,000