Object Type
A stoneware jug is an extremely functional type. It is strong and non-porous and in its simplest form, made in at least three sizes, it would be in use daily for beer or cider. This example is crisply modelled, with Neo-classical patterning. It would have been comparatively expensive and was probably intended both for show as well as use.

Time
Despite the prodigious production of relief-moulded jugs, relatively little is known about William Brownfield, the owner of the factory from 1850 until his death in 1873. He registered a large number of designs and the factory, which under his two sons retained his name, continued to do this after his death. By 1883 at least 27 new designs for Brownfield jugs had been thus protected. The production of jugs of all types, both relief-moulded and plain, was clearly a Brownfield staple; there is evidence in a catalogue published in about 1876 of at least 48 different designs. This jug appears in that catalogue and is entitled 'Nile' , despite the neo-Greek decoration known as anthemion (derived from floral forms, especially honeysuckle). The apparent disparity between name and pattern is not uncommon in 19th-century ceramic production and can be even more glaring than in this example.