Topic: Fish jug

[chaz]

First attempt at pics. Hope this works....
Purchased at auction in Waterford. From a house with a lot of local glass. Weight 1.25 kilos. Rough ground pontil, considerable base wear. Some internal clouding due to age.
A fish if turned sideways. Anyone seen one before?

[Paul S.]

hello chaz  -  the short answer is no, I'm afraid.

As a personal comment only, I'd plump for 'ewer' rather than jug, but for all I know these words may be interchangeable anyway.
As for obvious characteristics - the pincered decoration was common in the second half C19, and although I could be wrong, your handle appears to be of the 'dab' sort.
In general handles were applied using one of two methods  -  the pump handle being the earlier and used mostly during the C18 and into first half C19 , where it was attached first at the top then looped down and attached at the bottom  -  the later method is called the dab, and is attached in reverse, and started around c. mid 1860s.
As I say I could be wrong with your handle  - not easy to see in your pix, which are too busy  -  nice rustic view with field, post, barbed wire and clouds - but these are distracting and more helpful if the background is a plain dark colour  -  something in the way of a large sheet of paper or similar.
With older glass, treatment of the underside of the foot is either to leave this alone entirely so that the pontil scar remains (provided it isn't going to scratch the table) - or, to grind/polish the scar creating a shallow depression which mostly is polished and not left rough.   Perhaps if we might see a picture of your foot this might help, although it won't provide an accurate date.               Both rough scars and polished depressions occur at most dates in the C18 and C19 (though not on the same piece).

You may well be correct, and this could be a local production, but it's an unsophisticated piece and as such lacks conformity with standard designs thus making dating more difficult.
In the absence of comparison with other identical pieces of known provenance, it's very unlikely you'll ever determine a maker, unfortunately.

Was this piece sold to you with an attached date or description?            Of course we do have other perhaps better informed members, so let's hope they are free this morning and not out shopping

[chaz]

Cheers chap. Need a new cam. In a box of odd bits and pieces of Waterford. The pontil may have been ground for visual effect. The ground area is almost 2" in diameter, and matches the diameter of where the fishes mouth joins the base, causing a frosted effect when viewed from above. It was cheap and I like it.

[Paul S.]

Hi  -  your reason for buying this piece is the best of all possible reasons why we should buy anything       Inexpensive - you like it  -  and it does have a functional use.           Can't go wrong with that philosophy.

ids and dating for clear unmarked glass, is often the equivalent of a Bosch triptych - full of hellfire and brimstone, culminating in frustration.    You can stick the tried and tested, a narrow path of certainties, but buying mysteries like this is so much more fun.              The serious collectors tend to have as their cut-off date the demise of George IV  -  c. 1830, and they take little interest in Victoriana - so there is a large swathe of glass made c. beginning of Victoria to end of C19 where they tend not to offer opinions, unfortunately.

If you persist in learning - reading the books - visiting museums and antiques fairs  -  you will eventually learn how to assess even pieces like this  -  for which it's often impossible to evaluate correctly on the screen only.        

[chaz]

I'd agree entirely. Having spent two hours this morning discovering how to reduce the photos more will follow. Being a glass town, like Stourbridge, Waterford is a great place to collect. Lots of interesting pieces to be found from house clearances etc. There's a real buzz sorting through boxes of "tat" for hidden gems.