Outstanding Six-Gallon Stoneware Pedestal-Base Water Cooler, Stamped "J. HAMILTON / BEAVER," PA origin, circa 1850, rotund cooler with incised banding to midsection, applied lug handles, and squared bunghole with canted corners, seated atop a footed pedestal base. Front decorated with a boldly-brushed fuchsia vine bearing three blossoms and graduated leaves. Bunghole decorated with a cobalt circle around the opening and highlights to the corners. Cobalt highlights to handle terminals. Includes antique wooden spigot. Featuring an over-the-top form, large size, and a wonderful decoration closely-related to Hamilton's Greensboro designs, this cooler is among the finest examples of Beaver, Pennsylvania stoneware known. Provenance: A recently-discovered example, which descended in Nashville, TN family. The existence of a number of Beaver-made stoneware pieces with Nashville, TN advertising indicates a strong connection between the Beaver stoneware industry and the Tennessee market. Interestingly, another six-gallon cooler, marked "J. HAMILTON / BEAVER," sold as lot 258 in Crocker Farm, Inc.'s November 4, 2006 auction, also surfaced in Tennessee. Remarkable, excellent condition for a form that is typically found with moderate to significant damage. Its only flaws are a shallow 1 1/8" chip to interior of rim, a few other minor chips to interior of rim, and a few minor nicks to underside along edge. H 16 1/2".
