Pitcher
1680-1700 (made)
| Place of origin |
This salt-glazed stoneware pitcher was made in the Westerwald region east of the river Rhine in Germany at the end of the seventeenth century. This region has rich resources of fine clay suitable for making stonewares. The whole surface is profusely decorated with incised, stamped and relief-moulded applied decoration picked out in cobalt blue. The frieze of soldiers derives from a design first used on Westerwald jugs in about 1580 but most of the motifs are Baroque in style and at least one suggests a date approaching 1700.
The enormous size of this vessel, combined with the presence of a hole just above the foot for a metal tap (now missing) indicate that it would have been filled with beer, water or possibly wine which could be dispensed via a tap into smaller jugs for table use. Decanting jugs were often kept on the floor during a meal but this one would need to have sat on a low table, bench or form in order to provide sufficient height for a servant to be able to hold a smaller table jug beneath.
The enormous size of this vessel, combined with the presence of a hole just above the foot for a metal tap (now missing) indicate that it would have been filled with beer, water or possibly wine which could be dispensed via a tap into smaller jugs for table use. Decanting jugs were often kept on the floor during a meal but this one would need to have sat on a low table, bench or form in order to provide sufficient height for a servant to be able to hold a smaller table jug beneath.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Grey salt-glazed stoneware painted in cobalt blue over incised, stamped and relief-moulded applied decoration. |
| Brief description | Salt-glazed stoneware decanting jug decorated in cobalt blue, Westerwald, ca.1680-1700 |
| Physical description | Very large brownish-grey salt-glazed stoneware jug decorated in cobalt blue and with a pewter lid. The central part of the vessel is almost egg-shaped and from this rises a narrow neck with circular stoneware loop. A single handle, pierced with holes and terminating in a scroll links neck to body. Just above the mid-point is a frieze of soldiers in relief after engravings by Virgil Solis and Theodore de Bry. There are bands of repeated grotesque lion masks of several sizes, including a large one just below the spout and another just above the foot where a metal tap for dispensing drink would originally have been inserted. An iron tube remains just inside this hole. Other decorative motifs include cherub masks, flowers and palm leaves. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Gift of F. Davies, Esq. |
| Object history | The Westerwald region, east of the Rhine between the rivers Sieg and Lahn is rich in sources of fine pottery-making clay ideally suited to stonewares. In 1643, stoneware potters from the three towns Höhr, Grenzau and Grenzhausen united in one Guild. In the seventeenth century, Westerwald grey salt-glazed stoneware decorated with cobalt blue and also sometimes manganese purple, was widely traded within Europe and also to North America, Africa and the Far East. Despite the frieze of soldiers deriving from relief moulds originally created in 1598, the form of the jug is at least 1620-50 with several Baroque-influenced motifs such as cherub heads and grotesque lion masks. The palm leaves suggest an even later date towards 1700. |
| Historical context | A servant would decant beer, wine or water from this very large and ornate salt-glazed stoneware jug into smaller jugs for table use as required. Such vessels were usually kept on the floor during a meal but this one is of a type originally provided with an internal metal pipe and tap. The tap came out of this pot through a hole (the mouth of a mask) just above foot level so the jug must have sat on a low table, bench or form in order to provide sufficient height to place a smaller jug beneath. |
| Summary | This salt-glazed stoneware pitcher was made in the Westerwald region east of the river Rhine in Germany at the end of the seventeenth century. This region has rich resources of fine clay suitable for making stonewares. The whole surface is profusely decorated with incised, stamped and relief-moulded applied decoration picked out in cobalt blue. The frieze of soldiers derives from a design first used on Westerwald jugs in about 1580 but most of the motifs are Baroque in style and at least one suggests a date approaching 1700. The enormous size of this vessel, combined with the presence of a hole just above the foot for a metal tap (now missing) indicate that it would have been filled with beer, water or possibly wine which could be dispensed via a tap into smaller jugs for table use. Decanting jugs were often kept on the floor during a meal but this one would need to have sat on a low table, bench or form in order to provide sufficient height for a servant to be able to hold a smaller table jug beneath. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 210-1872 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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