Exceptional Bulbous Stoneware Water Cooler w/ Impressed Designs, possibly Charlestown / Boston

July 18, 2015 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 10

Price Realized: $3,220.00

($2,800 hammer, plus 15% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 5 years old, and the American ceramics market frequently changes. Additionally, small nuances of color, condition, shape, etc. can mean huge differences in price. Please Contact Us for a Current, Accurate assessment of your items.

July 18, 2015 Auction Catalog

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Rare Five-Gallon Open-Handled Stoneware Water Cooler with Elaborate Impressed Decoration, possibly Charlestown Area, MA origin, early 19th century, highly-ovoid cooler with open loop handles, tooled shoulder, and circular bunghole, decorated on the rim and shoulder with five rows of impressed and cobalt-highlighted designs. These stamps include two rows of diamonds with star interiors, a row of circles with star interiors, a row of inverted shields with barred interiors, and a row of circles. The bunghole is elaborately-decorated with impressed shield designs around the border and along the edge. Brushed cobalt highlights to handle terminals. This cooler is related in form and decoration to pieces produced in Charlestown, MA by Frederick Carpenter. However, the designs on the cooler cannot be identically matched with those on Carpenter's signed work. Pieces featuring individually-stamped designs are rarely so elaborately decorated. The strong decoration on this example is matched by a wonderful, rotund cooler form. Excellent condition with a tiny rim chip on reverse, a short line in rim above right handle, and in-the-firing stacker marks on top of rim. The underside also has a faint 3" Y-shaped line and a faint 1 3/4" V-shaped line, both not visible on the interior and probably in-the-firing. H 14 1/2".