Outstanding Baltimore Stoneware Filtering Water Cooler

October 29, 2011 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 28

Price Realized: $2,645.00

($2,300 hammer, plus 15% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 13 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: October 29, 2011 Auction

October 29, 2011 Auction Catalog

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Outstanding and Very Rare Two-Gallon Filtering Stoneware Water Cooler, Baltimore, MD origin, circa 1860, cylindrical cooler with oversized circular bunghole, squared rim, and applied lug handles, decorated with a bright cobalt clover plant design on the front and back. Shoulder and bung hole highlighted in cobalt slip. Ovoid filtering top with perforated tube, filtering disk on interior, and applied lug handles, decorated with cobalt clover designs on the front and back. Both pieces of cooler impressed "2". Baltimore residents were required to travel to the local hydrant to fill containers with water for home use. Oftentimes, this water stagnated in a home for days. Several Baltimore potters advertised these convenient filtering water coolers to be used to purify such water for drinking purposes. A disk containing charcoal inside the top providing the filtering necessary to make the water clean enough to drink. This distinctive Baltimore form is considered rare, and this example is the smallest and perhaps most vibrantly-decorated we have seen. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, purchased in Texas during the 1970's. Cooler with thin 1 1/2" crack from rim on reverse and a Y-shaped hairline on underside, continuing a short distance onto base. Chip on interior of rim of filtering top. H (of both pieces combined) 19 1/2".