Images(11)

Jug

Date1844-1846

Attributed to Lowndes Pottery

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Petersburg

MediumSalt-glazed stoneware

DimensionsOH: 14 1/2 in.; OD: 9 in.

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, C. Thomas Hamlin III Fund

Object number2017.900.1

DescriptionSalt-glazed stoneware advertising jug inscribed with “Bragg & Thomas & Co / Druggists Petersburg / 8 pts Va / Turpentine” in script that has been filled with cobalt. The body of the piece tapers slightly towards the base, the neck is collared with one ridged ring beneath the mouth, and the pulled handle sits high on the body with one end attached near the neck and the other at the shoulder.
Label TextIncised script on the shoulder of this advertising jug reads, “Bragg & Thomas & Co. / Druggists Petersburg / 8 pts Va / Turpentine.” William A. Bragg Sr. (1809-1863) was a druggist in Petersburg who had a number of partnerships over his lifetime. Newspaper advertisements from the period record that during the 1820s he was working with a man with the last name Jones; in the 1830s and early 1840s he was in business with two men, Dupuy and Thomas; and in January of 1847 he began a business venture with a man named Wilson. William Bragg was in business solely with Thomas using the moniker “Bragg & Thomas & Co.” from 1844 until the end of 1846.

The inscription on the jug indicates it was meant to hold turpentine, a substance used in the 18th and 19th centuries for medicinal purposes. It could be taken internally as a treatment for intestinal parasites, or used topically as a remedy for abrasions, as a chest rub to alleviate congestion, or as a treatment for lice.

Although this piece was well marked for the purposes of promoting Bragg and Thomas’ business, it was not marked by the manufacturer. The piece bears characteristics associated with the Lowndes pottery, however, and Lownes was the only known stoneware manufacturer working in Petersburg during the mid-1840s. Henry Lowndes died in 1842, but his family continued the pottery until 1855 when it was sold to Thomas and John Ducey. A rare survival, this piece is the only known intact jug attributable to the Lowndes Pottery.
InscribedIncised with cobalt filled script: "Bragg & Thomas & Co. / Druggists Petersburg / 8 pts Va. / Turpentine"