IMPORTANT SIGNED "JOHN P. SCHERMERHORN & CO / MAKERS", RICHMOND, VIRGINIA DECORATED STONEWARE WATER COOLER, salt-glazed, approximately twenty-gallon capacity, barrel/keg form with four double banded molded "hoops", "John P. Schermerhorn & Co. / Makers" inscribed and filled with cobalt below the rim. Brushed cobalt floral vine decoration encircling the medial body, additional rich cobalt decoration to each band/hoop. John P. Schermerhorn (1788-1850) & Co., Richmond, VA. 24" H, 12 3/8" D top, 12 3/4" D base.
Published: Hunter (ed.) - Ceramics in America 2013, p. 207, fig. 5, "The Remarkable 19th-Century Stoneware of Virginia's Lower James River Valley" by Kurt C. Russ, Robert Hunter, Oliver Mueller-Heubach, and Marshall Goodman; Mueller-Heubach (2013) - From Kaolin to Claymount: Landscapes of the 19th Century James River Stoneware Industry, [Doctoral dissertation, The College of William and Mary], p. 176, fig. 89, far left.
Literature: For a discussion of Schermerhorn and his stoneware business see Hunter (ed.) - Ceramics in America 2013, pp. 61-92, "Rocketts' Red Glare: John P. Schermerhorn and the Early Richmond-Area Stoneware Industry" by Kurt C. Russ and W. Sterling Schermerhorn.
Catalogue Note: This impressive and striking piece is the only known vessel bearing Schermerhorn's hand-incised signature.
Shipping Note: IN-HOUSE SHIPPING IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR THIS LOT. Please contact our local UPS store store6595@theupsstore.com for information on shipping or see our website for a list of third-party shippers https://www.jeffreysevans.com/buying/shipping-and-pick-up/

Excellent condition, having a moderate loss to protruding bung hole frame, some scattered faint hairlines that do not affect resonance and do not appear to go through to interior.