Commemorative Jug, Samuel Sanders, Dursley

Item Number: J96
Shape Type: Jug
Pattern Name: Fig Tree
Date: c. 1804
Dimensions:  Height: 8.5 in
Maker: Unknown
Description:
An earthenware commemorative jug printed in blue with the Fig Tree pattern. The jug commemorates a life event for “Samuel Sanders, Dursley, Gloucestershire”, and is dated “1804”. The commemorative itself is hand painted over the glaze and surrounded by a shield design with a floral and botanical pattern added above and below. It has a simple loop shaped handle. The Fig Tree pattern was thought to have only been produced Ralph Stevenson & Son (1810-1835) for which marked examples are known. However, the jug’s commemorative date suggests that it was either made before the Ralph Stevenson & Son pottery was in business and, therefore, would have been made by an earlier pottery or from an earlier Stevenson partnership, or it was produced by the Stevenson factory as a made-for-order piece and decorated with an earlier date. The latter could be supported by the fact that the jug’s shape and border designs are very similar to those produced by Stevenson. The border on the inside of the jug is the same as the inner border in Stevenson’s Willow pattern and the outer border was also used by the Stevenson factory for the Fig Tree pattern. The mug with an impressed STEVENSON was documented by Anthony Bunce in the NCS Newsletter #97, page 8. Other known examples of this pattern include a boat under the curved bridge but, as in the case with this jug and the mug the boat is positioned above the bridge. The border on the inside of the jug is the same as the inner border in Stevenson’s Willow Pattern. This pattern has also been found on brown ware with a yellow transfer printed pattern and an example is also documented in this collection This item was featured in “Extraordinary British Transferware, 1780-1840”, by R & R Halliday, p. 235, Schiffer Publishing Ltd, Lower Valley. Road, Atglen, PA, 2012.
Bibliography:
NCS1972-:
Northern Ceramic Society Newsletters. Stoke-on-Trent: Northern Ceramic Society, September 1972-. (Periodical)