English « Past Imperfect, The Art of Inventive Repair

Posts Tagged ‘English’

Miniature Coalport cup & saucer, c.1900

Saturday, May 17th, 2014

This minute bone china porcelain cup & saucer duo, made at the turn of the 20th century at the Coalport factory in Shropshire, England, has some of the smallest metal staple repairs I have ever seen. It has printed Japanese style floral decoration in the Japanese Imari palette, consisting of iron red, cobalt blue and gilt enamels. Both pieces are marked with a green stamp on the underside, dating them to 1890-1920. The saucer measures 3-1/4″ in diameter and the cup stands nearly 1-1/2″ high with an opening of 2″.

After the dainty saucer fell to the floor, breaking into six small fragments, it was brought to a china mender who pieced the puzzle back together. Using 10 custom made metal staples, the smallest being a mere 1/4″ long, the saucer was once again able to function as a support to the tiny cup it carried. Imagine the nimble fingers capable of creating such fine work!

Tags:English, Imari, miniature, porcelain, staples/rivets
Posted in cup/saucer, saucer | No Comments »

Doulton Lambeth Galleon jug, c.1900

Sunday, May 4th, 2014

This Teniers shape footed porcelain jug was made in Burslem, Staffordshire, England by Royal Doulton, 1892-1902. The bold transfer decoration in the Galleon pattern is printed in black with hand painted washes of mustard and aqua. This popular nautical scene appears on other forms, including vases and tobacco jars, and is clearly stamped in black on the underside DOULTON, BURSLEM, ENGLAND, GALLEON. Jug measures 7 inches high and 7 inches wide.

After this heavy jug slipped through the hands of an earlier owner, breaking its handle into four pieces, it was taken to a tinker (or china mender) who reattached the sections using five wide metal cuffs. Rather than leave the unfinished metal repairs to detract from the allure of the jug, the bands were painted in enamels to match the color and decoration of the handle. Although the color on the repairs has mellowed with age, the result still holds up and continues to be effective.

The Dalton Lambeth Galleon jug shown here has a different coloration and a perfect handle.

Photo courtesy of eBay

Tags:English, metal handle, porcelain, transferware
Posted in jug | 3 Comments »

Creamware Masonic jug, c.1800

Saturday, March 22nd, 2014

This wonderfully graphic black transfer printed creamware jug, of ovoid form with loop handle, was most likely made in Liverpool, England, at the turn of the nineteenth century. It stands 7-3/4″ tall and is 8-1/4″ wide from handle to spout. Large jugs such as this were commonly found in fraternal lodges and used for dispensing alcohol after the main order of business was performed. One side is decorated with Masonic imagery and the verso is decorated with emblems and a verse from The Entered Apprentice’s Song. One night, over 100 years ago, a candidate was hoodwinked* during an especially tense initiation ritual and this jug must have fallen to the ground. Unable to repair the broken shards, a Mason brought it to a metalsmith, who fashioned a beautifully proportioned replacement spout, as well as a reinforcement rim and base. This is the first time I have come across a repair done in this fashion and I am impressed with the delicate craftsmanship. I also like how the color of the metal, which appears to contain some pewter, matches the color of the faded transfer print. *Hoodwink, which today means “to trick” or “to deceive,” was originally used in the Masonic Lodge to describe a blindfold. Hood means “cover” and wink means “closed eye.” A candidate was hoodwinked during an initiation ceremony as he was led through a room, unable to see, in order to focus on the words he was hearing. I bet many a make-do were born during such hypnotic rituals!

This jug with similar form and decorations shows what my jug would have looked like before it was repaired.

Photo courtesy of Skinner

Tags:creamware, English, metal handle, pottery
Posted in jug | 2 Comments »

“Sailor’s Farewell” Sunderland jug, c.1830

Sunday, March 2nd, 2014

This small pottery “Dutch” shape jug, decorated with black transfer prints and verses of the popular Sailors Farewell, was made in Sunderland, England, in the early to middle 1800s. Standing 6″ tall, it is embellished with polychrome overglaze washes and pink lustre accents. The front and rim have floral prints and the reverse side is decorated with a black transfer print of the poem A Birth-Day Thought, written in 1809 by Charles Lamb (1775-1834):

I envy no one’s birth or fame,
Their titles, train, or dress;
Nor has my pride e’er stretched its aim
Beyond what I possess.

I ask and wish not to appear
More beauteous, rich, or gay:
Lord, make me wiser every year,
And better every day.

Over one hundred years ago when the jug was dropped, resulting in the loss of the original loop handle, it was taken to a tinker who made a metal replacement. The owner must not have liked the incongruity of the raw metal handle strapped to the delicate ceramic jug, so the handle was painted in copper tones, to help ease the offensive blight.

This jug with similar form and decoration shows what the handle on my jug would have looked like with its original handle intact.

Photo courtesy of Carter’s

Tags:English, lustre, metal handle, pottery, transferware
Posted in jug | 1 Comment »

Cauldon porcelain tyg, c.1910

Sunday, February 23rd, 2014

This beautifully painted three-handled porcelain tyg was made in Staffordshire, England by Cauldon, c.1905-20. It is hand painted in polychrome enamels with gilt detailing in the Highland Cattle pattern, signed D Birbeck. It is marked in green on the underside CAULDON LTD England and measures 7″ high, with an opening diameter of 5-1/4″.

Tygs are muli-handled drinking cups designed to be passed around and shared by many drinkers. The space on the rim between the handles delineates a surface for each drinker, a more sanitary solution to a single handled mug. Tygs date to the 15th century and were popular into the 17th century, but today they are used for decoration and the nasty old habit of sharing a beer in a traditional mug lives on.

We will never know if this fine tyg suffered its many breaks as a result of being thrown across the room during a bar brawl or if it merely slipped from grandma’s hands as she was dusting it. But thankfully it was brought to the attention of a china mender, who pieced the puzzle back together using 17 metal staples.

Tags:English, porcelain, staples/rivets
Posted in cup/saucer | 3 Comments »

Chrysanthemum Factory jug, c.1815

Saturday, February 1st, 2014

This large cream colored milk jug with sprigged decoration of hunters, horses and hounds was made in England in 1815 and bears the mark of the Chrysanthemum Factory, so-called because of the design of the pad mark on the underside. It was made by Charles Bourne and Chetham & Robinson and proved to be a popular design, as it was manufactured in many different forms, sizes and colors.

The striking dolphin shaped spout is minus its original lower half, replaced with a silver one by a tinker or jeweler long ago. It was expertly made as a cuff, snugly attached to the broken remains encased within. The ill-fitted lid, which came with the jug, seems to have been added at a later date by a previous owner. The jug stands 7-1/4″ tall without the lid.

Thanks to Benjamin Allen, whose Facebook group Sprigged & Relief Moulded Jugs helped to identify this piece.

This small cream jug gives you an idea of what the original spout on my larger jug looked like before it was brought to the tinker for repair.

Tags:English, metal spout, silver
Posted in jug | 8 Comments »

Gaudy Welsh lustre jug, c.1840

Sunday, December 8th, 2013

This type of pearlware pottery “Dutch” shape jug, decorated in the Oyster pattern, was manufactured in England and Wales between 1820 and 1860, although about 80% of the production of this popular form and pattern was done in Staffordshire, England. Standing nearly 5″ tall, it is hand decorated with cobalt blue underglaze and pink lustre, green, and burnt orange overglaze enamels. Although this is not a hard to find jug, I have yet to see one with this type of seemingly simple, yet elaborate inventive repair.

Sometime in the 19th century after the jug was dropped, causing its handle to break into four pieces, a repairer decided to reinforce the broken pieces, rather than create a new metal replacement. The simple loop handle now contains three metal rivets attached through holes drilled at each broken joint, an iron cuff at the bottom, a ring at the top attached to a rivet drilled through to the inside rim, and a splint made from two thin copper wires soldered to the ends and riveted along each joint. I applaud the anonymous repairer who took a different approach with this type of unusual repair and am glad to have the outcome of his creativity in my collection.

This jug with the same form and decoration has its handle intact.

Photo courtesy of Ruby Lane

Tags:English, lustre, metal handle, pottery
Posted in jug | 2 Comments »

King George VI & Queen Elizabeth loving cup, c.1937

Saturday, November 2nd, 2013

This colorful porcelain loving cup was made by the Paragon China Company in Stoke-on-Trent, England, in 1937 to commemorate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The figural lion handles and pastel colors give it a distinctive Art Deco look. At first glance the cup appears to be in tip-top condition, but upon closer inspection you can see all is not perfect for the royal couple. I imagine that after a robust toasting to the King and Queen, the loving cup clanked against a large stoneware tankard and broke in half. Surprisingly, it was not glued back together but brought to a china repairer who applied metal staples to make it whole again. With the invention of new types of glues and cements, developed for use during World War II, civilians were doing their own repairs at home, so by the mid-20th century, traditional staple repairs were becoming obsolete.

It seems that the china repairer or the owner of the cup couldn’t leave well enough alone and tried to mask the repair by painting over the staples. They did a decent job, however, matching the colors of the mug as they painstakingly matched each brushstroke of the pattern beneath.

The broken cup has been restored…long live the King! Long live the Queen! Long live the Art of Inventive Repair!

Tags:commemorative, English, porcelain, staples/rivets
Posted in cup/saucer | 4 Comments »

English diptware jug, c.1800

Sunday, October 27th, 2013

I purchased this 7-3/4″ tall jug from a collector last February and it quickly became one of my favorites. The simple form, hot chocolate colored glaze, and impressive tin handle with strapping make it a visual delight. When I brought this jug to one of Don Carpentier’s workshops at Eastfield Village this summer, he marveled at it and said it was something special. So rather than try to describe it myself, here is what Don had to say:

“It is a baluster form English earthenware jug 1790-1810. It is technically know as diptware because it was decorated with slip. The design at the rim inslip-inlaid checkered rouletting. Made by impressing the design in the leather hard clay on the lathe with a roulette tool and then flooding the area with dark slip. When the slip sets up to leather hard it is put back on the lathe and trimmed down flush with the surface of the body and the design is inlaid.”

The tinsmith who crafted the metal replacement handle did a fine job securing it to the jug, by means of straps running diagonally across the ovoid form. He also added a comfortable hand support, thumb rest and small curled flourish at the bottom. Sadly, some of the jug’s best features are covered by the tin handle, such as the intricate leaf terminals and almost half of the checkered rim. But without the added handle, the original owner would not be able to use the jug for its intended purpose and I would have nothing to write about today!

This jug with similar form and rouletted black slip-filled herringbone mid-band, shows what the original loop handle on my jug may have looked like.

Photo courtesy of Prices4Antiques

Tags:English, metal handle, pottery, redware
Posted in jug | 7 Comments »

Nelson commemorative jug, c.1805

Saturday, September 28th, 2013

This colorful “Dutch” shape jug with transfer decoration and overglaze washes was made in Staffordshire, England to commemorate Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died in battle at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. After he was killed by a French sniper, Nelson’s body was preserved in brandy while being transported by ship back to England for burial. Nelson become one of Britain’s greatest war heroes and is memorialized by many London monuments, including Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square.

In 1797 during the unsuccessful Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Nelson tragically lost an arm. The ship’s surgeon, James Farquhar, wrote in his journal: “Compound fracture of the right arm by a musket ball passing thro a little above the elbow; an artery divided; the arm was immediately amputated.” Legend has it that within 30 minutes of treatment, Nelson was back in battle commanding his troops.

It seems this jug, too, has been to battle, as sometime in the mid-1800s it’s original handle snapped off and was replaced by a metal one. The itinerant tinsmith did a fine job fashioning a simple yet sturdy loop handle with thumb rest and small flourish at the bottom, which might have been his signature embellishment. It’s a shame that Lord Nelson couldn’t find a replacement for his own missing arm, as seen by the empty draped sleeve in his famous portrait by Lemuel Francis Abbott.

This jug, also commemorating the death of Admiral Nelson and with similar form, shows what the handle on my jug might have looked like before it was wounded in battle.

Photo courtesy of Toovey’s

Tags:commemorative, English, metal handle, pearlware, pottery, Staffordshire
Posted in jug | 1 Comment »

Past Imperfect, The Art of Inventive Repair

Posts Tagged ‘English’

Miniature Coalport cup & saucer, c.1900

Doulton Lambeth Galleon jug, c.1900

Creamware Masonic jug, c.1800

“Sailor’s Farewell” Sunderland jug, c.1830

Cauldon porcelain tyg, c.1910

Chrysanthemum Factory jug, c.1815

Gaudy Welsh lustre jug, c.1840

King George VI & Queen Elizabeth loving cup, c.1937

English diptware jug, c.1800

Nelson commemorative jug, c.1805

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