A Victorian Aesthetic style silver jug and bowl
Jackson & Chase, London 1877, after a design by Dr Christopher Dresser for Watcombe Pottery registered in 1872
Circular form, the jug geometric in style with angled handle and beak-like open spout, decorated with simple reeded banding against a plain polished ground, together with a matching sugar bowl, both with gilt interiors, height jug 11cm, weight total 10oz. (2)
Footnotes:
Watcombe Pottery was established in about 1870 following the discovery of a bed of fine red clay at Watcombe House, Teignmouth Road, St Mary Church, north of Torquay. They were proud of their fine red clay and specialised in clean, classical shapes, which suited Christopher Dresser's own interest in strong forms. There is no documentary evidence of Dresser's collaboration with Watcombe, but it is usually accepted on stylistic and anecdotal grounds. Dresser visited Japan on several occasions and in 1877 presented the Emperor with European artefacts, including one example of Watcombe pottery. A number of potteries grew up or turned to art pottery in the west of England in the 1870s and 1880s. Their reliance on the distinctive local red clay makes their production recognisable as coming from Devon or Somerset. The design of this silver jug closely resembles one registered by Watcombe Pottery in 1872. Although definitive documentary evidence is lacking, it is assumed that Dresser designed for the pottery from about this time.