Rare Five-Gallon Stoneware Jar with Cobalt Floral Decoration, Stamped "S.H. SONNER / STRASBURG, VA", circa 1860, large-sized, cylindrical jar with tooled shoulder, applied lug handles, and squared rim, decorated on the front and reverse with a design of a hanging flower flanked by swags. Impressed under one handle with a five-gallon capacity mark and a faint S.H. Sonner maker's mark. The decoration and capacity of this jar are unusual in Sonner's production. A small handle chip. A tiny handle nick. Minor chips to exterior of rim. A shallow 1 1/8" chip to top of rim. A large, sealed Y-shaped crack at base, which continues onto underside, where it forms a second Y.