Extremely Rare Three-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Incised and Slip-Trailed Cobalt Tree Decoration, Stamped "COWDEN & WILCOX / HARRISBURG, PA," circa 1865, cylindrical jar with tooled shoulder, flared rim, and applied lug handles, decorated with a slip-trailed design of a tree with striped stump and graduated tiers of leaves, ascending from a scallop-edged ground flanked by shrubs. Cobalt highlights to maker's mark, capacity mark, and handle terminals. Exhibiting a strong Rochester influence in the decoration, this jar also includes highly unusual freehand incising along its slip-trailing, likely used as a template for the design. This jar is the only Cowden & Wilcox piece with tree decoration that we are aware of. Provenance: Recently-surfaced in NC. A tightly-sealed, X-shaped crack to left side of jar's front, including a tiny splinter of clay missing from surface. One part of this sealed crack becomes wider, extending through one handle, across reverse, and along rim above opposite handle. No sections of this jar were broken off and reglued. A 1" chip above one handle. A tiny chip to same handle and a small chip to opposite handle. Chips and wear to inner rim for lid. H 13 1/4".
