Rare cruche vente en gros à vin antique élégante en relief moulée à la main (5""/13cm, 179g)

Rare Antique Elegant Handcrafted Relief Moulded Pottery Jug / Creamer (5”/13cm, 179g).

Please browse all 12 photographs attached for size, weight and condition as they are self explanatory. There are no cracks nor crazing marks although if you look very carefully you might notice the odd rose petal has been chipped. It is very hard to notice this unless you specifically look for it.

Initially I thought this jug was made by the Irish company Belleek as they did a lot of porcelain with roses moulded on the surface but this item is much better quality than anything Belleek ever produced,with roses as part of the design, and none of their rose embellished items had ribbons even though the surface of the jug is in the pattern of Irish Beleek. So while the apparent composition suggests it resembles Belleek (their porcelain was much finer than the stoneware moulded jugs) and they did have roses on some of them, none incorporated a ribbon within the design. Kind of trellis design. Belleek had bows but not ribbons and theirs were painted unlike this one.

I was also advised by a knowledgeable friend that Benningtons (American potteries) did a lot of roses or grapes on jugs but nothing the Americans did matches this item! Looking through Benningtons records, they did some pitchers/jugs with roses moulded on the surface, none are as "crisp" and defined as those on this jug and most had grapes and vines woven amongst the flowers.

My knowledgeable friend also looked at the many Belleek jugs and of course Copeland and Minton did some very fine parian jugs but none remotely matched this jug! I even considered Italian Capo Di Monte but there are no base marks to suggest it might be that.

However, I have recently been advised a variety of items all displaying the same roses, some in plain white, some with just the roses painted ranging from vases, little trinket pots, shells, and even porcelain umbrellas were in fact made by Coalport. They do have a museum and would probably be able to give an opinion on this jug so Coalport appears to be a good bet.

I found this jug in my late father's belongings when going through the loft. It was almost black and I had to to wash it well to bring it to life. My enquires in the family lead me to believe it has been in the family a few generations and in all likelihood it is from the late Victorian to early Edwardian period.

In the history of the United Kingdom, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victorias reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian period, and its later half overlaps with the first part of the Belle Époque era of Continental Europe.

The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history covers the brief reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910, and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victorian era.