Fabulous Redware Pottery Folk Art Sheep (Lid) with Extruded Fur limoges porcelain I believe original to it

I believe original to it

And the thick mauve glaze shows big drips

Such a charming carving

but with no tears otherwise and a gorgeous patina to the leather on both sides

the prolific and endlessly inventive Chicago artist who made this piece

Fabulous Redware Pottery Folk Art Sheep (Lid) with Extruded Fur limoges porcelain I believe original to itI found this one in Maine this week and have a sense that it is quite a special one a real piece of American folk art I think, I might guess Pennsylvania, which appears to have some good age to it (late 19th c. would not surprise me). I believe it likely once sat atop a pottery jar as a lid, with the lip around its bottom fitting inside the lip of the jar. I take it for a sheep with this abundant coat of extruded clay for fleece and hand sculptured