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Wine Jug thumbnail 2
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On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Wine Jug

1885 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
Decanters (vessels for serving wine at the table) or claret jugs were popular in late Victorian Britain. This flask-shaped jug has an unusual body assembled from five bands, with pronounced horizontal grooves where one band joins another.

Design & Designing
Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) is often regarded as the 'father of industrial design'. He designed utilitarian objects for the general public while making full use of the latest techniques of mass production. Dresser's most innovative designs were for objects to be made in metal. His designs for ceramics and glass often resemble plant forms in their shape, ornamentation or colouring, but his designs for metalwork objects tend to be fully abstract. He frequently employed symmetrical, rectilinear shapes and undecorated surfaces. This was partly due to the intrinsic value of silver and gold, which he specified should be used economically in order to make the object affordable. This is in keeping with his ethical attitude towards economy in design.

Manufacturing
Dresser was a prolific worker and produced designs for numerous manufacturers, including Hukin & Heath (about 1878-1890s), Elkington & Co. (about 1875-1888) and James Dixon & Sons (about 1879-1890s). Some of his designs were considered too ahead of their time to go into production, and six exist only as prototypes.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Electroplated nickel silver, spun and soldered.
Brief description
Wine Jug, electroplated nickel silver, Birmingham, made by Elkington & Co., 1885, designed by Christopher Dresser.
Physical description
Wine jug, electroplated nickel silver, flask shaped body, annulated with three grooves on the widest part of the body, and with a step defining the collar, which terminates in an everted edge. Hinged circular flat lid, with a combined finial and thumbpiece in the form of a scroll forming a dogleg with spiralling ends. Shaped handle. Three applied legs or feet in the form of tapering cylinders.
Dimensions
  • Maximum height: 21.5cm
  • Including handle width: 15cm
Dimensions checked: Measured; 28/09/2000 by ET. BG width qualification: (w bet 2 feet equals 12)
Marks and inscriptions
  • Stamped on the underside 1A (for first quality plate), the pattern number 17556, E & Co. in separate stamps, E & Co crowned in one stamp, the Elkington date letter for 1885, and ELKINGTON & CO.
  • Registered No. 22871
Gallery label
(27/03/2003)
British Galleries:
ELECTROPLATING

Electroplating is the technique of using an electrical current to deposit a thin layer of precious metal on a less valuable base metal. This teapot and wine jug give the impression of being solid silver.
Object history
Designed by Christopher Dresser (born in Glasgow, 1834, died in Mulhouse, France, 1904) and made by Elkington & Co., Birmingham
Summary
Object Type
Decanters (vessels for serving wine at the table) or claret jugs were popular in late Victorian Britain. This flask-shaped jug has an unusual body assembled from five bands, with pronounced horizontal grooves where one band joins another.

Design & Designing
Christopher Dresser (1834-1904) is often regarded as the 'father of industrial design'. He designed utilitarian objects for the general public while making full use of the latest techniques of mass production. Dresser's most innovative designs were for objects to be made in metal. His designs for ceramics and glass often resemble plant forms in their shape, ornamentation or colouring, but his designs for metalwork objects tend to be fully abstract. He frequently employed symmetrical, rectilinear shapes and undecorated surfaces. This was partly due to the intrinsic value of silver and gold, which he specified should be used economically in order to make the object affordable. This is in keeping with his ethical attitude towards economy in design.

Manufacturing
Dresser was a prolific worker and produced designs for numerous manufacturers, including Hukin & Heath (about 1878-1890s), Elkington & Co. (about 1875-1888) and James Dixon & Sons (about 1879-1890s). Some of his designs were considered too ahead of their time to go into production, and six exist only as prototypes.
Collection
Accession number
M.28-1971

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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