Featured PAIR OF ANTIQUE JUGS MARKED WITH SHELL AND LETTER Y..XIIIth Cent ?

Hi again...Here is some details of one of a pair of liquid Jug very ancient..XIIIcent..??
Don't know what they could contained...Alcool..Perfume..Essences..??
They look to be made of Clay then glazed..?? One is marked with 3 SHells and the other one with Letter Y
They measure 31 cm H for 19cm W
Any infos will be appreciated..Thanks

 

I think oil.

 

That is the second one of the Pair..31cm Hfor a 10 cm base...

 

It is similar in shape to the Bartmann (Bellarmine) jugs produced around Cologne in the 16th and 17th C. Those have molded faces, so not the same, but possibly from the same region. Don't know about age.

 

Thanks..Good news to start with...Will check Bellarmine ??On the web...Mine have those Shells..?? Maybe Dutch..?? Hope so....This will put together my research...

 

Bellarmine or Bartmann/beardman is the name of a specific type, a jug with a bearded face on it. Yours are not bellarmines.

Most of the jugs of a similar shape here in the Netherlands were made in the German Rhineland, so that brings us back to the same region moreotherstuff mentioned.

 

Big thanks...Would love to know more..Hope I will..!!

 

Schnaps or Chateau Laffitte 1765...????

 

I'll have Chateau Laffitte, thank you for offering, but do you have a more recent vintage?

A wine or brandy jug is a possibility. Bellarmines were generally for alcohol, but these look more like oil jugs to me. Appropriate for a chef, I'd say.

 

Early containers for transporting oil to the fish and chip shops.

 

Well, there you have it. German import into Britain.

 

@BTZ64 , you changed your forum name! Better that way, we were just discussing something similar in another thread.

 

Somewhere I have some references to impressed marks on these old German stoneware jugs. I'll see if I can find them (and hope they are in English. )

 

BTZ is French, and I can translate from German.

 

So far I've not found anything helpful but I will look a bit more later when I get a chance. (The references not in English are German and Dutch) I swear I've seen a shell somewhere.

Anyway, here is a similar one I have in that it is simple with just a few impressions and the details I recorded about it. I got it from someone who said it was found on the banks of Iljselmeer before reclamation of the Zuiderzee.

I have it as possible Frechen 1551-1700 based on shape of similar I found (I think) but I'm not not sure of the date.

 

So sorry but I haven't found the shell anywhere yet. I did want to include some information though. In a general way, these jugs seem to have become more simple and less decorated over time. While many are German they were also made in England.

I've looked through the references I can think of with German examples and English examples. I've added some photos with descriptions.

If I think of additional places to look I will. There used to be a site with many Bellarmine type jugs but it seem to be gone.

From If These Pots Could Talk by Hume showing a mid 18th C example.


From John Dwight's Fulham Pottery by Green showing some late 17th C types.



From Salt-Glazed Stoneware in Early America by Skerry and Hood, showing some English examples of which I found the tails on the handles especially interesting and quite similar to yours.

 

I think I can manage Dutch as well.
We got a lot of household ceramics from Germany in those days.

 

I was hoping the book Opgravingen in Amsterdam might be where I was thinking I'd seen it but no. I did just load some text in need of translation on the thread about "no idea England" though.

 

I'll check it out.