Sold! $6,000.
Rare Three-Gallon Stoneware Jug with Cobalt Double Pheasant Decoration, Stamped "J. & E. NORTON / BENNINGTON, VT.," circa 1855, cylindrical jug with semi-rounded spout, decorated with an artistically-rendered, slip-trailed design of two crossed pheasants with turned heads, perched on a stump. The right pheasant includes an unusual rendering of its crest that appears more like a chicken's comb. Cobalt highlights to maker's mark and capacity mark. One of the Nortons' most prized avian designs. An in-the-firing contact mark to wing area of right pheasant. Faint scratches to wing of left pheasant. Some light bubbling to cobalt. A horizontal hairline through handle. A 1 1/4" inverted Y-shaped surface line where handle meets spout of jug, not visible on interior. A few very short, faint surface lines at base. H 16 1/4".