Description
The red Borderware pottery jug has incised rib decoration at the upper and lower neck with two bands in the mid-body; the handle is applied with a wiped finish at the lower terminal.
The base is intriguingly marked in black ink with notes relating to the Holborn Viaduct in the City of London. The construction of the viaduct was a significant undertaking around 1860, and it is most likely this was where the jug was discovered.
It is in remarkable condition, with only an ancient hairline sympathetically restored and stabilized at the neck.
Notes;
The viaduct was built in the 1860s as a channel for the River Fleet by the Improvement Committee of the City of London; William Heywood was the architect, and it took six years and over £2 million to complete – a considerable cost for the time.