SPARKS, MD. — A stoneware presentation water cooler with incised mermaid and seahorse motifs by Cornwall, N.Y., potter Moses Clark Bell was swimming in bids as it sold for $70,800 in Crocker Farm’s October 26 sale. The cooler with cobalt decoration was presented to Cornwall clothier Charles S. Brown and was dated August 15, 1825. According to Crocker Farm specialist and auctioneer Luke Zipp, this is one of the finest pieces of stoneware the firm has ever sold and only the third mermaid the firm has ever seen. The piece measured 16 inches and had previously sold in 2004 at Garth’s from the Bob & Nancy Treichler collection.

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