Exceptional Four-Gallon Stoneware Water Cooler with Profuse Cobalt Clover Decoration, Baltimore, MD origin, circa 1860, stylishly-potted, baluster-form cooler with ovoid body, tall collar, open strap handles, and rectangular bunghole with canted top. Front of cooler lavishly-decorated with a lesser-seen, triple-stemmed clover plant emanating from the bunghole. Reverse decorated with a two-stemmed clover plant. Horizontal clover motifs to shoulder on front and reverse. Cobalt highlights to bunghole and handle terminals. Exceptional form, decoration, and color. The ornamental potting of this cooler is typically seen in early Baltimore stoneware produced by the Remmeys and Parrs, circa 1825-1835. This example is the first that we have seen from this period featuring this style. Provenance: Property deaccessioned by the Miller House Museum, Hagerstown, MD. Reverse of rim with a 3" hairline descending from a 1/2" chip. An additional 2 1/2" diagonal line from rim on reverse. A small in-the-firing stone ping to top of rim. A Y-shaped hairline to one handle. A very faint 1 1/2" hairline from rim on front. Shallow chips to bunghole. A 7/8" base chip on reverse. A tight, approximately 4" inverted Y-shaped line at base on reverse. H 13 1/2".
