Very Rare Four-Gallon Lidded Stoneware Advertising Jar with Cobalt Reclining Lion Decoration, Stamped "GILES' & CO' DEALERS IN / HARD.WARE, IRON, CROCKERY, GROCERIES. / PAINTS WOODEN-WARE, STATIONARY, &C.&C. / VARIETY STORE CHERRY VALLEY," attributed to J. & E. Norton, Bennington, VT, circa 1855, cylindrical jar with tooled shoulder, semi-rounded rim, and applied lug handles, decorated with a slip-trailed design of a lion with turned head, spotted body, and upturned tail, reclining on a stylized ground between three fences. Shoulder impressed with four lines of elaborate advertising for a general store in Cherry Valley, New York, located in Otsego County near Cooperstown. Cobalt highlights to advertising and capacity mark. Includes a salt-glazed stoneware lid, possibly original to the jar, but one which does not fully rest on the inner rim. Among the finest examples of Norton stoneware to come to auction in years, this jar features one of this pottery's rarest and most coveted figural designs. This work appears to be perfectly-fired, with a striking, enamel-like quality to the cobalt and superior contrast against the clay background. Its wonderful advertising at the shoulder, mentioning a variety of 19th century household goods including crockery, offers insight into how such pieces were marketed in their day. Very nice condition. A 1" chip, tiny chip, and tiny nick to interior of rim. Wear to inner rim for lid. An inverted 2" crack from rim above one handle. Shallow chips to one handle. Minor chipping to shoulder molding. A few very short and minor surface lines at base, not visible on interior and likely in the firing. Minor in-the-firing iron pings to surface. Lid with damage to knob, a 5" oval flake to underside, salt residue to edge, and a hairline. H (excluding lid) 14 3/4".
