Jug
Date1575-1600
OriginEurope, Germany, Frechen
MediumStoneware, salt-glazed, brown
DimensionsOverall: 7 7/8 x 5 x 5 3/8in. (20 x 12.7 x 13.7cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number2008-4
DescriptionSalt-glazed stoneware drinking jug with a long narrow neck above a bulbous body and narrow ribbed foot. The pulled handle attached near the top of the neck and terminating at the top of the body.Label TextBrown stoneware drinking vessels from the Rhineland were present in America, albeit in far lesser numbers than bottles. Early drinking mugs, such as this object in the collection, are characterized by globular bodies with cylindrical necks. Between about 1575 and 1600, a rattail or triangular extension at the lower handle juncture -- sometimes with an impressed thumbprint -- became a common feature.
Excavations within the fort at Jamestown have yielded fragments of two such mugs that were in use prior to 1610. Similar examples have also been found in Virginia at the Governor's Land site (44JC637) and Martin's Hundred.
ProvenanceRobert R. Hunter, Jr., Yorktown, Virginia
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