An antique French stoneware jug, a gargoulette, with a rounded body, a narrow neck and two loop handles.
The body is thrown by hand and ridged all over with fine throwing lines. The glaze runs from deep brown and smoky grey to warm honey and amber, with long, glossy drips down the shoulders and sides, where the glaze has pooled and run during firing. The surface is speckled and slightly rough in places, with a rich, glassy shine on the shoulders. The base is unglazed and shows five small round stilt marks, left by the supports it stood on in the kiln. A small applied pellet of clay decorates the shoulder next to one handle.
Jugs like this were made in French country potteries for oil, water or wine. Each is a little different, and the glaze here is unusually varied. It looks lovely on a kitchen shelf, a console or the floor, empty or with dried stems or branches.
