Antique English Mocha Pottery Earthworm Jug, Circa 1820

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Description

Antique English Mocha Pottery Earthworm Jug,
Circa 1820

This early nineteenth-century English mocha pottery jug carries two wide ocher bands … Read more Antique English Mocha Pottery Earthworm Jug,
Circa 1820

This early nineteenth-century English mocha pottery jug carries two wide ocher bands trailed with the earthworm pattern, the upper band in loops and the lower in waves, each line drawn in wet slip as the jug spun on the potter’s lathe. Thin brown lines, three at the rim and center and two at the foot, frame the bands, and the loop handle ends in stylized flower terminals. The result is the bold, graphic decoration that has made mocha ware a favorite of American collectors and decorators for generations.

Mocha and its related dipped wares were the everyday pottery of British households and taverns, made from about 1770 and shipped across the Atlantic in quantity through the 1840s. The earthworm pattern arrived around 1810 with the multichambered slip cup, a small pot that let the turner trail several colors of slip in one continuous line. Pieces are rarely marked and seldom attributable to a particular factory, which only adds to their charm.

At six inches high and a generous seven and a half inches wide, this is a pitcher for using as much as looking at. It reads beautifully alone on a farmhouse table, holding a loose bunch of garden flowers or a handful of dried grasses, and it sits just as happily among creamware and pearlware on a kitchen dresser or open shelving. The warm ocher and brown palette pairs naturally with painted furniture, scrubbed pine, and the earthy tones of a country or English cottage interior, and it brings a note of handmade texture to a modern kitchen.

Dimensions
Height: 6 inches (15.2 cm)
Width: 7½ inches (19.1 cm)
Depth: 5 inches (12.7 cm)

Provenance
Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge

(Ref: NY10263-xlrr) See less