New York three-gallon stoneware jug, $12,000, Pook & Pook Inc.

A New York three-gallon stoneware merchant’s jug sold for $12,000 at a Pook & Pook Inc. auction. The impressive salt-glazed vessel, decorated in the classic style associated with 19th-century New York stoneware production, attracted strong interest from collectors of American folk pottery and utilitarian ceramics. Its size, condition, and desirable merchant-marked form contributed to the exceptional result. Also, a 19th-century tiger maple mirror realized $425.