Extremely Rare and Fine THOMAS & BRO. / HUNTINGDON, PA Stoneware Water Cooler

Summer 2022 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 93

Price Realized: $10,200.00

($8,500 hammer, plus 20% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE:  This result is 2 years old, and the American ceramics market frequently changes. Additionally, small nuances of color, condition, shape, etc. can mean huge differences in price. If you're interested in having us sell a similar item for you, please contact us here.

Auction Highlight:  Summer 2022 Auction | Central PA Stoneware

Summer 2022 Auction Catalog

◀︎ Back to Catalog

Login


Extremely Rare Four-Gallon Stoneware Water Cooler with Cobalt Starburst Decoration, Stamped "THOMAS & BRO. / HUNTINGDON, PA," circa 1870, cylindrical form with circular bunghole, applied lug handles, and tooling to shoulder and rim, the front decorated with a brushed bull's eye emanating with vertical and horizontal foliate motifs and diagonal wavy strokes. Cobalt highlight to bunghole, handle terminals, maker's mark, and capacity mark. The first Huntingdon, Pennsylvania cooler that we have ever offered, this work features unusually elaborate decoration inspired by the well-known starface designs of Thompson Harrington's Lyons, NY pottery- a site where the Thomas brothers' father, Shem Thomas, had previously worked. Exceptional in form and decoration, this cooler is among the finest examples known by this influential Pennsylvania potting family, active for periods in both Harrisburg and Huntingdon. Literature: Illustrated and discussed in Lasansky, Made of Mud: Stoneware Potteries in Central Pennsylvania 1834-1929, p.21. Lasansky describes this cooler with the following: "This four gallon THOMAS & BRO. water cooler (13 3/4" x 8 3/4") is one of Thomas' most effective pieces with uncharacteristically light color and imaginative design." Provenance: Ex-collection Nancy Shedd, Petersburg, PA. Very nice condition with a 1 3/4" rim chip and a few minor chips to bunghole. H 13 3/4".




©2024 Crocker Farm, Inc. | info@crockerfarm.com | (410) 472-2016