Exquisite Large-Sized Stoneware Presentation Water Cooler with Profuse Incised Bird-and-Floral Decoration, Inscribed "L. PADDOCK," Stamped "TYLER & DILLON / ALBANY," NY State origin, circa 1825-1834, rotund form with rounded lug handles, incised sine-wave decoration to shoulder, slightly flared collar, and square bunghole. Body of cooler decorated with an incised and cobalt-highlighted design of a crested bird perched within a flowering plant bearing three large, daisy-shaped blossoms. Decoration includes heavily incised feathering to the bird, incised dashes bordering the tips of the flower petals, piercing to the center of the flowers, and veining to the leaves. The shoulder features the large, incised and cobalt-highlighted name, "L. PADDOCK," accented with crosshatched and slashed incising. The bunghole is decorated with brushed cobalt slashes emanating from its opening. Additional cobalt highlights border the bunghole and fill the maker's mark. Boldly potted and lavishly decorated, this masterpiece was produced by the Albany firm of Moses Tyler and Charles Dillon for Watertown, New York entrepreneur, Loveland Paddock, whose name appears in large, distinct lettering at the vessel's shoulder. Paddock's family business, Paddock and Smith Mercantile, acquired significant wealth during the War of 1812 as a supplier to the U.S. Army and Navy. In the 1820s (the period in which this cooler was likely made), Paddock's real estate investments made him one of the richest men in Jefferson County, New York. He founded the Black River Bank in 1844, becoming its president, and is perhaps most well-known for his creation of the "Paddock Arcade," which opened in 1850. After seeing the Beauharnais Arcade of Paris, France in a photograph, Paddock hired architect, Otis Wheelock, to build a "glass covered street" adjoining his Paddock Building. Today, Paddock Arcade is recognized as the oldest, continuously operated enclosed shopping mall in the United States. Symbolic of Paddock's financial success, this opulent cooler measures an extraordinary capacity of roughly eight gallons and was specially ordered by (or gifted to) Paddock from a major capital district pottery in Albany, located over 170 miles from Watertown. One can easily imagine this decorative vessel serving water to a large gathering of guests at his home or within the lobby of one of the many buildings he owned. Paddock (or the person who ordered the cooler for him) was presumably aware of the superior stoneware products of the city of Albany generally and Tyler & Dillon specifically. Some of the most extraordinary incised coolers ever made in the state were produced by this firm. These include an iconic keg-form cooler with swordfish and beehive, gifted by noted collector, John Paul Remensnyder, to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., as well as a fish-decorated keg cooler, sold in Crocker Farm, Inc's., July 18, 2015 auction, lot 80. The Paddock Cooler's extravagant decoration, imposing size, robust form, and historical significance, place it among the most important ceramic pieces from the city of Albany, one of the country's great epicenters of stoneware production. Provenance: Cottone Auctions, Geneseo, NY, March 21, 2009, lot 190. Very nice condition. A 5 1/2" hairline to underside, continuing 1 1/2" up base. A 4" diagonal line to shoulder on reverse, not visible on interior. A chip to interior base at bunghole. A 1 1/4" shallow, in-the-firing chip (contact mark) to reverse end of proper left handle. Underside with slight warping. Minor traces of old paint to surface. H 17".
