Extremely Rare Four-Gallon Stoneware Water Cooler with Incised Double-Bird and Floral Decorations, attributed to Nicholas van Wickle, Manasquan, NJ, circa 1825, ovoid cooler with heavily-tooled shoulder, semi-squared rim, ribbed lug handles, and circular bunghole. Decorated on the shoulder with an incised and cobalt-highlighted design of facing birds perched atop clusters of leaves. The birds are executed in the distinctive style of Nicholas van Wickle with alternating wavy line and slash incising to the tail and wings. Reverse decorated with a refined, incised and cobalt-highlighted design of a flowering plant featuring overlapping tulip-like petals and rippled leaves, an unusual motif from this potting school. Brushed cobalt highlights to handle terminals and surrounding bunghole. As typical van Wickle family pieces feature only a single incised bird, the combined form and elaborate incising of this piece rank this cooler among the most significant examples of Old Bridge school stoneware to come to auction in recent years. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, recently-discovered in the Southwestern United States. Applied clay surrounding bunghole lost during the firing. Two small chips to shoulder molding. Light water glass staining to surface. Other staining, primarily to base. H 15".
