Exceedingly Rare Four-Gallon Open-Handled Stoneware Water Cooler with Incised Bird Decoration, Dated in Cobalt "1840", attributed to Knox County, TN Potter, John Floyd, 1840, ovoid cooler with cylindrical collar, open handles, and circular bunghole, the front decorated with an incised and cobalt-highlighted design of a crested bird with ringed neck, perched on a stylized leaf. Reverse decorated with the brushed cobalt date, "1840". Cobalt highlights to bunghole and handle terminals. Cooler includes a stepped lid with pointed, cobalt-highlighted finial and Albany-slip-glazed underside. This recently-discovered cooler is closely-related to a second cooler with incised bird decoration and the brushed date "1842", which was included in the exhibit, "Tennessee Turned: Earthenware and Stoneware Made in East Tennessee, circa 1800-1900", held at the Museum of East Tennessee History in 2011. This example serves as a significant addition to the small body of work signed by or attributed to Floyd, and though it was made only two years before the aforementioned 1842 cooler, differences seen on this example--particularly in clay quality / coloration--suggest it was probably made outside of the area where its close relative was made. As more research is needed to determine exactly where this particular cooler was manufactured, it serves as an important clue that may help fill in gaps in this potter's history. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, purchased by the consignor in 1993. Majority of collar restored on front of cooler. A chip to bunghole. Some traces of old green paint to surface. Lid with small nicks and edges on exterior, two small chips to flange and underside, and a 7/8" reglued chip to flange on underside. H (including lid) 20" ; H (excluding lid) 17 1/2".
