Extremely Rare Large-Sized L. NORTON / BENNINGTON Water Cooler w/ Bird and Floral Decoration, 1828-1833

Summer 2023 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 216

Price Realized: $1,320.00

($1,100 hammer, plus 20% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: The American ceramics market frequently changes, often dramatically. Additionally, small nuances of color, condition, shape, etc. can mean huge differences in price. If you're interested in having us sell a similar item for you, please contact us here.

Summer 2023 Auction Catalog

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Extremely Rare Large-Sized Double-Spouted Stoneware Water Cooler with Cobalt Bird Decoration, Stamped Twice "L. NORTON / BENNINGTON," VT origin, circa 1828-1833, ovoid form with wide mouth, applied lug handles, and applied circular bungholes at the base on the front and reverse. Decorated on the front with a large brushed design of a bird with ring-neck, perched atop a stylized leaf or ground. Reverse with brushed floral motif. Brushed cobalt highlights to impressed maker's mark on front and reverse, as well as highlights to the handle terminals. This work is exceptionally rare in form and decoration. It is the first example of Norton stoneware that we have seen potted in this wide-bodied form with bung holes on each side, a construction designed to make the vessel accessible in a high-traffic area, simultaneously from the front and reverse. The brushed design of a bird is highly unusual, predating by over twenty years the typical slip-trailed bird motifs brought to the Norton pottery by German-born decorator, John Hilfinger. The cooler's form, decoration, and grand size, roughly six to eight gallons, all indicate that it was a specially-produced work, designed to be prominently displayed. Its unusual double-sided impression of the maker's mark reveals a sense of pride in its production, revealing to the viewer where such a piece could be purchased. A few chips to exterior of rim. A 1 1/8" in-the-making chip to interior of rim, which is coated in Albany slip. A few other minor chips to interior of rim, one of which occurred in the making. A chip and tiny nick to bunghole on bird-decorated side. Chips around bottom edge, some of which occurred in the firing. Two vertical in-the-firing surface lines to interior of rim, measuring 4 " and 2 3/4", not visible on exterior. A 2 3/4" x 1 5/8" piece of a pot that adhered to the side of the cooler during the firing. An approximately 9" professionally-restored horizontal crack at base to left of bunghole on bird-decorated side. H 15" ; Diam. (across rim) 13".