Important and Possibly Unique Four-Gallon Stoneware Double-Spouted Cooler with Cobalt Fish and Floral Decorations, Inscribed "Genesee R"., Stamped Twice "I.H. WANDS / OLEAN, NY", Isaac Hardenbergh Wands, circa 1855, baluster-form cooler with applied lug handles and tooled rim, each side fashioned with a circular bunghole, decorated with cobalt stripes. Front of cooler decorated with a large slip-trailed design of a fish with heavily-scaled body, below the inscription, "Genesee. R.". Reverse decorated with a large flowering plant motif, including a spotted leaf, the shoulder inscribed "5" in cobalt. Both sides impressed with the cobalt-highlighted maker's mark of Isaac Hardenbergh Wands of Olean, NY. This cooler features an outstanding double-spouted form, rarely seen in 19th century American stoneware. Its wonderful folk art design of a fish is closely-related to that found on an iconic Wands jar, inscribed "Seneca Lake", which was sold in Crocker Farm, Inc.'s May 20, 2006 auction. Just as the jar featured a reference to a body of water in New York State, this cooler includes an inscription for the Genesee River, a tributary of Lake Ontario. An outstanding work in form and decoration. A few chips to interior of rim. A thin 4" crack from rim. A few other short lines in rim only. Some light exfoliation to base area. Some light exfoliation to underside. Some in-the-firing crazing and an in-the-firing surface line to underside, not visible on interior. Shallow chipping to one bunghole. A few small spots of surface wear to midsection. Some staining. H 14 5/8".
