Rare Five-Gallon Stoneware Churn with Bold Cobalt Grapes Decoration, Stamped "COWDEN & WILCOX / HARRISBURG, PA", circa 1865, large-sized, semi-ovoid churn with applied lug handles and flared collar, the front decorated with a large cluster of eight grapes hanging from a leaved stem, flanked by two corkscrewing vines. Cobalt highlights to maker's mark, capacity mark, and handle terminals. Excellent form, size, decoration, and color. The churn form is considered one of the rarest produced by this well-known Central Pennsylvania firm. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, purchased by the consignor approximately forty years ago. Heavy chipping to rim. Wear to inner rim, which would hold a lid. A thin 4" crack from rim on front, a thin 2" crack from rim above one handle, and a thin 4" crack from rim on reverse. Some in-the-firing vertical streaks to salt glaze around base area of churn. A base chip. A small salt drip on reverse. Some thin streaks of discoloration. H 18".
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