If anyone has any ideas about the origins of this jug I'd be interested to hear from them. 18cm high, glazed base incised with what l think is N5. It's got that slight iridescence in places I tend to associate, quite possibly wrongly with older slipware, and the decoration has a kind of North Devon look,though I can't find any exact parallels : the pattern is sprigged with a few minor incisions rather than cut through a complete covering of slip, as seems more usual.
i'm not sure you will ever know who made you mystery jug as i'm sure there have been dozens of talented, but unknown potters in the North Devon area. Even so, i'd guess this might be classed as a Harvest Jug - that is, a jug with representations of fertility etc. If you like slipware, you might like to take a look at the blog of Hannah McAndrew - a contemporary potter in this medium.
ReplyDeletewww.hannahmcandrew.blogspot.com
Thanks for the comment
ReplyDeleteI'm being cautious about this.It seems to be an odd compromise between the highly decorated harvest jugs and the plain functional ware. And the N7 mark seems strange .So.I might be looking in completely the wrong place.
I'd rather assumed the popularity of the rose decoration was patriotic: the jugs often bear other national symbols: royal crests, flags or what I think is called the " union spray" , comprising rose, shamrock and thistle. But obviously symbolism isn't a simple equation, intentions shift and that isn't necessarily the deeper cultural meaning of the design.The addition of rose hips which I can't find on any definitively North Devon pottery does give a slightly different emphasis.
Thers a whole soap opera of slipware blogs. All very entertaining .
Sometimes a picture of the base is helpfull too
ReplyDelete