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Jug: C.2020-1928

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Object information

Awaiting location update

Maker(s)

Production: Unidentified Frechen pottery

Entities

Categories

Description

Brown salt-glazed stoneware with applied bearded face mask and oval medallion containing an eight-petalled flower

Grey stoneware, thrown, with applied handle, moulded relief decoration, and uneven iron-brown wash, under coarse mottled salt-glaze. The jug has an elongated bulbous body contracting at the top into a short narrow neck with cordons round the mouth, and a small strap handle. On the front of the neck is a crude bearded face mask in relief, and below it an oval medallion with a raised edge containing an eight-petalled flower with spots between the petals. The brown wash is much darker and more thickly applied on one side than the other, which has a wide vertical streak of mottling on a paler surface.

Notes

History note: Mr Powell, Cambridge, from whom bought in 1893 by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 18.8 cm
Height: 28 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Frechen ⪼ Rhineland ⪼ Germany

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

17th Century, second half#
Circa 1650 - 1680

Note

A bearded mask jug in the Victoria and Albert Museum has an almost similar medallion containing an eight petalled rosette (inv. 713-1908). See also Fitzwilliam Museum C.2019-1928.

The German term for salt-glazed stoneware jugs with bearded masks below the rim is Bart¬mann or Bartmannkrug (bearded man jug). They were produced in vast quantities at Frechen during the second half of the six¬teenth and seven¬teenth centuries, in a range of different sizes for domestic or commer¬cial purposes. They were exported to England by Dutch merchants through ports in the Netherlands, and were widely distributed and used until the late 17th century when the manufacture of salt-glazed stoneware and glass bottles was developed here. The German stoneware jugs became known as `Bellar¬mines' reputedly after Cardinal Roberto Bellarmino (1542-1621) whose reforming zeal made him unpopular in Protestant states. The term was first mentioned in William Cartwright’s comedy 'The Ordinary', (1634), and by the 19th century this had become a common collectors' term for these bottles.

Components of the work

Surface composed of iron-brown wash ( or 'dip') salt-glaze
Base
Body
Decoration

Materials used in production

grey Stoneware

Techniques used in production

Salt-glazing

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.2020-1928
Primary reference Number: 76574
Old object number: 683
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 9 August 2022 Last processed: Wednesday 13 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Jug" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76574 Accessed: 2024-12-22 12:09:47

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76574 |title=Jug |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 12:09:47|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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