On Aug. 30, Conestoga Auction Company, a division of the Hess Auction Group, sold a ca. 1865 three-gallon stoneware Cowden & Wilcox crock with a deer in profile for $64,800. The prancing eight-point buck in cobalt is an unusual decoration for the prolific Harrisburg pottery operation. In 2016, Crocker Farm sold a C&W four-gallon crock, slight-sided versus slightly bulbous, with a deer in profile for $13,800. It had restoration. The auction record for C&W stoneware was set 10 years ago in 2014, when Crocker Farm sold a two-gallon stoneware jug with a Civil War soldier in profile for $97,750. As a side note, John Cowdens son, the potter, Frederick Cowden, served in the 201st Regiment, Pennsylvania Infantry C during the Civil War. It was during the war, in 1863, the partnership of John Cowden and Isaac Wilcox was formed in the capital city. To learn more about the Hess Auction Group, call 717-898-7284.