What is a sparrow beak jug?

It's a cream or milk jug with a small triangular pouring lip, an inch or so across, on a body that may be plain, fluted or moulded. The form is named in 11 of the 112 titles recorded on Sellingantiques, making it the most-named shape in the category. It belongs with the eighteenth-century English factories, and one Chinese famille rose example carries the same lip.

Which factory appears most often?

Worcester, by a wide margin. It's named in 35 titles, across first period, Dr Wall, Flight, Chamberlain, BFB and Royal Worcester. Every other name in the record appears in single figures, Caughley, New Hall, Bow, Derby and Liverpool among the English factories, with Meissen, Volkstedt and Old Paris on the Continental side.

How old are these jugs?

The dealers' own dating runs from 1750 to 1940. The earliest firmly dated pieces sit at about 1755 and 1758, and the latest is a Royal Worcester painted-fruit cream jug of 1940. Only 29 of the 112 listings pin a clean year to a piece. The largest single bracket is the vague one, "18th Century" on 32 listings, followed by "19th Century" on 19, with Regency, Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian labels adding another layer. Titles themselves often carry a circa date the dated field doesn't repeat.

Why do listings quote pattern numbers?

Because that's how the factories identified their decoration, and how collectors still do. Eighteen titles name a pattern in place of a description. Some are numbers, 20, 121, 173, 421, 2/1215, 4003. Others are names, Fisherman, Mandarin, Two Quails, Rock Strata Island, Fenced Garden, Schoolhouse. A quoted pattern tends to go with the higher entries.

Are jug and bowl sets included?

Yes. Washstand pairings account for about one in ten of the record, and they're better represented in current stock than in the sold archive. They range from a wash jug with its basin to sets running to four pieces, and one footbath jug. These are the later end of the category, made for bedrooms before plumbed bathrooms.

How many come up for sale each year?

Around twelve a year on Sellingantiques. Forty different dealers have listed one, so no single specialist holds the field. Oddities appear once and nowhere else: a dolphin-supported cream boat with a lamprey handle, a porcelain Toby jug, a jug-vase pair, and a mask jug printed "Success To The Crosby Hunt".

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Antique Porcelain Jugs

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A porcelain jug in this category is usually a small tea-table cream or milk jug, made to sit beside a teapot, though larger washstand jugs sold with their basins turn up alongside them.