Wingender Pottery Iced Tea Advertising Cooler

Circa 1890s: Depictions of camels on decorated American stoneware are exceedingly rare, and this stunning approximately four gallon 16" tall lidded iced tea cooler advertising Gold Camel Ceylon India Tea was made by Haddonfield, New Jersey master potter Charles Wingender as a specially commissioned piece for use by L.H. Parke & Co., a prominent coffee, tea, and spice importer with wholesale outlets located in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Charles Wingender was an excellent calligrapher who did incised work for Richard Remmey in Philadelphia before moving across the River to New Jersey and opening his own shop, and this style of skillfully rendered incised and cobalt decorated leaves and mold impressed northwinds bungholes are commonly found on Wingender's water coolers, making this a simple and accurate attribution. Furthermore, the only difference in the lids between Wingender's standard water cooler and this custom tea cooler is that the tea cooler lid has impressed leaves, signifying tea, and the standard water cooler lid does not.

The cooler's central medallion depicts a highly detailed realistic camel that mimics the one illustrated on Parke's late 19th century die cut trade cards. This cooler was most likely used at one of the company's wholesale outlets so that retailers could sample the tea before purchasing it in bulk for their stores. We feel this cooler was used in Pittsburgh at Parke's 638 Grant Street location because the cooler was found in Southwestern Pennslyvania (the apple does not often fall far from the tree) by a local Indiana PA picker in 1994 and subsequently purchased from her by famed antiques dealers Frank and Susan Swala and stowed away in their personal collection until we recently acquired it directly from them. Condition is generally excellent, but it does have some imperfections. There is a short tight line from the lid's rim and an old in use filled in chip repair on the top of the lid that is certainly commensurate with age and use, but it miraculous that the lid has survived at all. On the cooler itself, there is a tight underglaze meandering line on reverse that is probably in the making as the cooler rings like a bell when tapped and is absolutely structurally sound. This is an incredible opportunity to own a one of a kind market fresh piece of advertising stoneware produced by one of America's most skilled potters.