Outstanding Six-Gallon Stoneware Crock with Cobalt Eagle and Banner Motif, Inscribed "Union for Ever!," Stamped "W A MACQUOID&CO / NEW-YORK / LITTLE WST 12TH ST," circa 1863-1865, cylindrical crock with tooled shoulder, semi-rounded rim, and applied lug handles, brush-decorated with a spread-winged eagle with elaborate feather detail, clutching a banner, inscribed, "Union for Ever!." Cobalt highlights to maker's mark and freehand cobalt "6" inscribed over an impressed six-gallon capacity mark above. This jar's prodigious size, wonderful slogan, and unusually strong cobalt for the maker, place it among the best eagle-decorated vessels known from this Manhattan maker. The exclamation, "Union for Ever!," indicate it was likely made during the Civil War in the first few years of Macquoid's ownership of this pottery, circa 1863 to 1865. A thin 6 1/2" crack from rim on front. Shallow chipping to proper left handle. A minor in-the-firing ping to tip of eagle's beak. H 12 3/8".