What is this rough unglazed ring underneath?

That's the foot rim. When a jug goes into the kiln, any glaze on the resting surface melts and fuses the piece to the shelf. Factories wiped the glaze off this lower edge before firing. On hard-paste examples, this exposed clay feels smooth.

I inherited an elaborate jug with lots of gold on it and painted flowers, but I am confused about why the handle has a different pattern from the rest of the body?

Elaborate handle replacements were a common nineteenth-century fix for dropped vessels. You'll often see silver or brass mounts, but sometimes a restorer adapted a handle from a broken piece. If the paste and the painted decoration clash, it's a marriage of two separate items. It kept a useful object in service rather than throwing it away.

Why are some milk jugs so small?

Tea was a costly luxury in the eighteenth century. Vessels made to serve it were scaled down to match the small teapots of the time. Services grew larger as imports increased. Later jugs hold far more volume.

My grandmother left me a jug that has a brown landscape painted on it but it looks a bit blurry around the edges, is this normal for printed patterns?

You're looking at a transfer-printed design. Makers applied a tissue paper print from an engraved copper plate directly to the ceramic body before glazing it. Blurring happens when the glaze is applied over the print and melts in the kiln. It's a regular feature on early underglaze printed wares.

Home > Jugs > Porcelain Jugs > Page 2

Antique Porcelain Jugs from the 19th Century

← Page 2 of 2 →

Antique porcelain jugs are fired ceramic vessels with a pouring lip and a handle, originally produced to serve milk, water, or other liquids at the table.