Exceptional Five-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Elaborate Cobalt Parrot on Flowering Branch Decoration, Stamped "COWDEN & WILCOX / HARRISBURG, PA," circa 1865, ovoid jar with tooled shoulder, semi-rounded rim, and applied lug handles, decorated with a large slip-trailed design of a parrot with pointed crest, perched on a flowering branch bearing three daisy-shaped blossoms. Cobalt highlights to maker's mark and capacity mark. Featuring desirable slip cup application and an outstanding combination of figural and floral elements, this imaginatively-decorated work is the first of its kind that we have seen in Harrisburg stoneware production. Provenance: A fresh-to-the-market example, acquired by the consignor roughly forty years ago. Professional restoration to proper right handle. Additional professional restoration to areas of surface around and below right handle, area of shoulder on proper right side of jar, and areas of front of rim on the jar's front. Some additional unrestored wear to interior and top of rim. A 2 1/2" X-shaped surface line to left of bird, not visible on interior. A 2" Y-shaped surface line on underside, continuing 1 3/4" up base below proper left handle. H 13 1/2".
