Outstanding Six-Gallon Stoneware Keg-Form Cooler with Incised Fish and Floral Motifs, Albany, NY origin, possibly Jonah or Calvin Boynton, circa 1810-1820, ovoid keg with raised banding, small circular bunghole, and carved circular opening in top, the front decorated with a large incised and cobalt-highlighted design of a fish with deeply-carved details throughout. Further decorated below with an incised daisy motif, modeled after designs first employed by William Capron, featuring hollow and cobalt-highlighted segments, a dashed interior, and slender petals emanating from the blossom. Raised banding and area surrounding the bunghole are highlighted in cobalt slip. Aspects of the form, decoration, and color, lead to a firm attribution to Albany, NY, with brothers, Jonah and Calvin Boynton, as possible makers. This cooler is among the finest examples of Albany stoneware that we have offered recently, with a nicely-sized fish design that measures 7 1/2" along the curve of the vessel. The fish-decorated keg coolers of Albany are among the most iconic early New York State stoneware pieces known, with examples represented in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. and the Albany Institute of Art in Albany, NY. The popularity of this design element on Albany stoneware is said to have risen out of the prolific food source of sturgeon, referred to as "Albany beef", which were caught in the nearby Hudson River. This cooler survives in rarely-found excellent, essentially as-made condition. H 17 1/4".
