Lot Essay
This bronze jug is typical of pieces produced in England in the mid-fourteenth century and relates closely to examples in the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert, and the Museum of London, as well to the 'Lord Wenlock' jug sold at Sotheby's on 17th May 2005. Indeed, it is similar in form to the mysterious Asante Ewer, the English medieval jug discovered in modern day Ghana in 1896, now in the British Museum. The unusual symbols on either side of the handle are probably founder's marks from an unidentified foundry. The present jug is one of the largest recorded examples and was probably not intended for regular use.