Exceedingly Rare Four-Gallon Stoneware Crock with Cobalt Walking Deer Decoration, Stamped "COWDEN & WILCOX / HARRISBURG, PA", circa 1865, cylindrical crock with squared rim and applied lug handles, decorated with a slip-trailed design of a deer with large rack standing atop a stylized ground. Cobalt highlights to handle terminals, maker's mark, and capacity mark. Only a few examples of stoneware with deer decorations are known from the Cowden & Wilcox Pottery, or the entire state of Pennsylvania for that matter. Its design was likely inspired or executed by the New-York-trained potter, Shem Thomas. To our knowledge, this crock is the first Cowden & Wilcox deer-decorated piece to come to auction in over fifteen years. Large area of restoration to left side of crock. The interior reveals a crack, but the restoration covers more area, and may just be superfluous. Surface lines to underside, not visible on interior. Two short, faint surface lines to body, not visible on interior. H 10 7/8".