1890 England Milk Pitcher

Porcelain : Antique : Ironstone

 

This example is often seen described as 'late 19th century' because it has the year of 1890 included in the mark on the bottom. Also often described as 'stoneware' and 'flow blue' - but look carefully at this piece, because it is none of the above. The cow decoration is indeed similar to a known blue and white stoneware pitcher design, but the animal has the look of modern day dairy cows, bred solely for producing milk and as yet unknown in the 19th century. Note that the exact same image shows on both sides of the pitcher. No attempt was made to do more than decorate both sides with a cow image. The 19th century examples that this pitcher imitates generally had integrated scenes that traveled around the body and included other details.

The glaze bears no resemblance to Flow Blue. Even the color is not quite right. The mark suggests the pitcher should be Ironstone, but the image of the base helps to show that the item is actually made of a simpler ceramic type body, which is light in weight. It is not the vitreous body one would find in high fired, stoneware. The mark "Ironstone England 1890" is not actually intended to identify maker so much as it is meant to encourage a novice buyer to mistakenly believe that date is the actual year it was made.

One should expect that a pitcher made in 1890 would at one point have seen some actual use. The image of the interior, though somewhat blurred, still clearly shows that this is a new piece that has never seen table use. And if the glaze contains lead, as the glazes of many imported fakes and reproduction items do, it never should see table use.

The pitcher is 6 1/2 inches tall and measures 7 5/8 inches from the edge of the lip to the end of the handle.

This same mark is also found on pitcher and bowl sets currently available from reproduction wholesale sources.

Item ID: 2007RP00017