glazed earthenware
Each of conical form, the taller glazed matte grey and decorated with a taupe line at its rim and taupe stems sprouting blue leaves and white berries at its side, the shorter with an everted rim and matte blue glaze, its side with incised abstract linear decoration
Impressed ship marks, the taller painted and the shorter impressed with designer's and potter's marks HT, the shorter further with a paper factory label
4⁷⁄₈ in. (12.4 cm.) high, 3¹⁄₂ in. (8.9 cm.) wide

Isak Lindenauer Antiques, San Francisco.
Acquired by Ann and Gordon Getty from the above in July 1995.

Please note this lot will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) at 5pm on the last day of the sale. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services. Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information. This sheet is available from the Bidder Registration staff, Purchaser Payments or the Packing Desk and will be sent with your invoice.

Conditions of Sale
FAQs
This lot is offered by Christie's Inc

Brought to you by

Lot Essay

Examples of Marblehead Pottery bearing impressed or painted 'HT' cyphers have previously been attributed to the enigmatic figure of Hannah Lucy Tutt (1860-1952), a bookkeeper and Marblehead native who appears to have had no direct connection to the pottery's production. An article written by Jonathan Clancy and Martin Eidelberg and published in November 2008 by Style 1900 presents a deep study of the cypher and dispels the Hannah Tutt attribution, establishing that Marblehead's artists' marks combine an initial from each piece's designer and executor, with 'HT' corresponding to the designer Arthur Irwin Hennessey (1882-1923) and the potter and decorator Sarah Tutt (1859-1947). Clancy and Eidelberg support their thesis by comparing extant marks to designer identifications provided by a 1908 article on Marblehead in Keramic Studio, which also records 'Mr. A.I. Hennessey' as a designer and 'Mrs. E.D. Tutt' (Sarah, identified by the initials of her husband, Edward D. Tutt) as 'the decorator.' See J. Clancy and M. Eidelberg, “Marblehead Revisited: The Myth of Hannah Tutt,” Style 1900, November 2008, and H.J. Hall, 'Marblehead Pottery,' Keramic Studio 10, June 1908, pp. 30-31.