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Not currently on display at the V&A

Jug

ca.1900 (made)
Artist/Maker
A. W. Buchan & Co. (made)
Place of origin
Portobello (made)

Jug, buff-coloured stoneware, the upper part and handle glazed in semi-matt dark blue, the lower part buff with clear lead glaze. Printed in black underglaze with 'Pattisons Limited Distillers Leith Ask For Pattisons' Scotch Whisky', underneath a coat-of-arms with the motto 'Animo non Astuta'.


Object details

Object type
Jug
Materials and techniques
Glazed stoneware
Stoneware
Glazed
Brief description
Stoneware, advertising Pattison's Whisky; A.W. Buchan & Co., Portobello Pottery, Edinburgh, about 1900
Physical description
Jug, buff-coloured stoneware, the upper part and handle glazed in semi-matt dark blue, the lower part buff with clear lead glaze. Printed in black underglaze with 'Pattisons Limited Distillers Leith Ask For Pattisons' Scotch Whisky', underneath a coat-of-arms with the motto 'Animo non Astuta'.
Dimensions
  • Height: 18cm (Note: Measurements taken with cloth tape measure only during condition assessment in store)
  • Without handle width: 12cm
  • With handle included depth: 15cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Pattisons / LIMITED / DISTILLERS / LEITH / ASK FOR PATTISONS' SCOTCH WHISKY', printed in black
  • 'Animo non Astuta', printed in black (Heraldic motto)
    Translation
    With spirit and not with cunning
  • 'BUCHAN / 2 / PORTOBELLO', impressed (On base. )
  • Transliteration
    .
Object history
Alexander Buchan and Thomas Murray took over T. Tough & Co.'s Portobello pottery near Edinburgh in 1867. Murray and Buchan changed its name to A. W. Buchan & Co. in 1882. The stoneware pottery moved to Crieff, Perthshire in 1972, and closed in 2000. The thistle mark was in use from 1949. Ornamental ware, including advertising ware, was introduced early in the 20th century. Underglaze hand-painted hand-thrown wares gained attention at the 1951 Festival of Britain and were popular throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
Bibliographic references
  • Henry E. Kelly, 'Scottish Ceramics'
  • Robin A. Hill, 'A History of A. W. Buchan & Co. Ltd.'
  • Paul Atterbury et al. (ed.), 'Miller's Twentieth-Century Ceramics: a collector's guide to British and North American Factory-Produced Ceramics', 1999
Collection
Ceramics Collection
Accession number
CIRC.23-1975

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O343212/jug-a-w-buchan/
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