Ohio Finds: Anna Pottery’s Famous Pig Liquor Flasks

When Cincinnati became known as Porkopolis in the 19th century, the nickname was a stench on the city’s reputation. It was a justifiable insult nonetheless.

Before Chicago became the meat-packing capital of the nation, Cincinnati ran hog wild with slaughterhouses. By one account, 48 Cincinnati packing houses employed 1,200 men producing more than $3 million worth of packed pork in 1840.

Twenty years later, that workforce had doubled, and as many as 450,000 hogs were butchered in the city every year. As the pigs were driven to their demise, the accompanying confusion, noise and smell became an inconvenience.

Few objects commemorate Cincinnati’s days as Porkopolis, but brothers Cornwall and Wallace Kirkpatrick poked fun at the city’s reputation. From 1860 to 1896, they owned Anna Pottery in Illinois.

Their liquor flasks in the shape of an anatomically correct pig were sometimes incised with maps of Midwest railroad lines, with cities designated along the way. The flasks are eagerly sought for their folkish nature, but for Ohio collectors, any reference to Porkopolis, the last stop on the line, adds extra intrigue.

A kneeling pig was the form of many figural flasks produced by Anna Pottery. This example was incised “Pure Peach 99 Years Old in a Hog’s.” 

Richard Jeffers is the owner of Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers in Columbus. garths.com