HARRINGTON & BURGER / ROCHESTER 6 Gal. Stoneware Jar w/ Elaborate Bird and Floral Decoration

July 18, 2015 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 228

Price Realized: $2,990.00

($2,600 hammer, plus 15% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 9 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.

July 18, 2015 Auction Catalog

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Outstanding Six-Gallon Stoneware Crock with Cobalt Bird and Floral Decorations, Stamped "HARRINGTON & BURGER / ROCHESTER," New York State origin, circa 1852-1854, large-sized, cylindrical crock with tooled shoulder, semi-squared rim, and applied lug handles, decorated with an artistic, slip-trailed design of a large songbird perched on the stem of an elaborate flowering plant. Decoration features excellent detail throughout, in the manner of the best Rochester stoneware, including a ringed neck and striped breast on the bird, and spots, crosshatching, and heavy shading to the flowering plant below. As is the case with other Rochester stoneware pieces, decorators would use a single plant to showcase different varieties of flower blossoms. In this instance, a daisy grows from the same plant as a tulip. The entire decoration measures an impressive 11" wide and 10 1/4" tall in straight line distance. A slip-trailed "6." appears to the right of the decoration and cobalt highlights the maker's mark. This crock is rarer than the stamped Nathan Clark and John Burger pieces bearing similar bird motifs. It was made during the short-lived partnership of Burger and potter, Thompson Harrington. Burger would assume complete ownership of the pottery in 1854, leaving Harrington to establish his well-known Lyons, NY operation, where his iconic starface pieces were produced. Today, John Burger and Thompson Harrington are regarded as two of New York State's most important potters, who elevated stoneware decoration to a highly artistic level. Large, thin Y-shaped crack on front. Some small, fairly unobtrusive surface flakes to front. A faint Y-shaped line to reverse.