Past Imperfect, The Art of Inventive Repair

This copper lustre blue-banded pottery jug, decorated with polychrome relief birds and flowers, stands 6.25 inches high and 8 inches from handle to spout. It was made in England in the mid 1800s.

After the handle broke off, sometime in the 19th century, it was taken to a tinker who fashioned an overscaled metal replacement handle with crimped edges, and ample finger and thumb rests. The remains of the lower handle terminal were left on the jug so the tinker just went around it when he did his repair.

Copper lustre decorated wares originated in the 9th century and were first made by Islamic potters. Inspired by these early pieces, English pottery houses, including Spode and Wedgwood, developed their own techniques, starting at the beginning of the 19th century and continuing to around 1860. Although highly collectible for decades, lustreware has recently fallen out of favor and can now be purchased for a fraction of what it once sold for.

This jug, identical in form and decoration, shows what the original handle on mine looked like before it broke off.

Photo courtesy of Ruby Lane.

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

A tiny copper lustre jug, made in England in the mid-19th century, has an applied decorative gravel band at the bottom. It measures just 2-3/4″ tall.

In America, lustreware became popular in mid-19th century. During the Victorian period, a certain dinner party fad was to place lustreware pieces on a mirrored platform as a table centerpiece and watch the glow of gaslight sparkle and shimmer.

Over 100 years ago, a tinsmith made a sturdy replacement handle with two support straps after the original handle broke off. I particularly like the elegant loop the handle makes at the peak, avoiding the remaining broken fragment of the original.

This jug, with similar form and decoration, shows what the simple handle on my perfectly imperfect jug would have looked like before its disfiguring accident.

Photo courtesy of best military watch