Exceptional Six-Gallon Stoneware Crock with Elaborate Cobalt Decoration of a Deer Flanked By Trees, Stamped "HAXSTUN, OTTMAN, & CO. / FT. EDWARD, N.Y.," circa 1870, cylindrical crock with tooled shoulder, semi-rounded rim, and applied lug handles, decorated with an extravagant, slip-trailed woodland scene featuring a large deer with turned head and spotted body, flanked by pine and leaf-bearing trees. Heavily-detailed ground below including shrubs and various ground cover. An outstanding and unusually large design, exhibiting superior color. One of the finest New York State deer designs to come to auction in the past several years. Provenance: From a twenty-five plus year private collection. Faint 1 1/2" Y-shaped surface line at maker's mark, not visible on interior. 6 1/4" crack from rim on reverse, directly to left of the left handle. 2" in-the-firing separation line at base. A chip to interior rim and some other small, shallow chips to exterior of rim. A few small base chips. Two large, smooth chips at bottom edge, which appear to have occurred in the firing, barely visible unless the crock is turned over.
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