Rare Cobalt-Decorated Stoneware Inkwell with Incised Name, Stamped "C. CROLIUS / STONE-WARE / MANUFACTURER. / Manhattan-Wells. / NEW-YORK," circa 1815, cylindrical form with tooled upper edge, the top decorated with cobalt daubs, the shoulder with crisply-impressed marker's mark of Clarkson Crolius, Sr. The top surface of this inkwell includes a lightly-incised name in hurried script, which reads "Cr. . . ", possibly "Crolius". This inkwell is one of only three signed Crolius examples we have ever offered, and the only one of the three with an appealing spotted cobalt decoration. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, from an inkwell collection amassed over the last thirty years, consigned to this auction. A 3/8" chip to top edge. A very tight line around circumference of inkwell near base. Base was not reglued, and it appears the line may have occurred in the firing, as is the case with so much stoneware from this period. Other short and minor lines of crazing, most likely in-the-firing. Diameter 3 3/8" ; H 1 7/8".