Outstanding and Rare Five-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Cobalt Cornucopia Decoration, Stamped "JOHN BURGER / ROCHESTER," NY State origin, circa 1860, cylindrical crock with semi-rounded rim and applied lug handles, decorated with a large slip-trailed design of a scrolled cornucopia brimming with two large flowers, leaves, and a hanging flower bud. Heavy shading to cornucopia and leaf extending from its scrolled end. Slip-trailed "5." to shoulder. Cobalt highlights to maker's mark. Relatively few examples of this decoration by Burger are known. This work reveals his ability at depicting flora in a highly-detailed, life-like manner that surpassed all other American stoneware decorators. Burger's cornucopias were famously copied by one or more Rochester-trained potters that traveled westward, implementing this motif on pieces of Ohio stoneware. This crock is the first Burger example bearing this design that we have offered. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, from a recently-surfaced Brooklyn, NY collection. Excellent condition with a small chip to interior of rim. H 13".
