Villeroy and Bock 4a

Large-sized, ovoid-bodied wash jug/ewer, with a tall, slightly flared rim and a ringed base. The surface is cream-white glazed, with grayish-blue (aniline blue) transfer-printed decoration: garlands of flowers running around the collar, larger bouquets of flowers cascading onto the body, as well as scales-patterned borders below the rim and at the base. A shell-shaped relief decoration (cartouche) interrupts the shape at the shoulder. The pronounced, S-shaped handle is reinforced with segmented ribs and dotted rings; there is a small ear-shaped pad at the base of the neck. The glaze is glossy, industrial-grade, and the absence of brush marks and the uniform contour indicates mechanical (transfer) decoration. Based on the measuring tape visible in the picture, its height is approximately 36–37 cm. Iconography: naturalistic, Victorian-style floral motifs, could have been a piece of a hygiene-related wash set. Style: historicizing, late Victorian/early Edwardian industrial ceramics (ironstone/steingut)

Villeroy & Boch, Wallerfangen/Mettlach (end of the 19th century)