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[May 2002]
Ceramic Owl Expected to Fetch Five-Figure Sum
A unique Staffordshire stoneware ale jug and cover in the shape of an owl will go under the hammer at Bonhams in London on 7 June 2002.The owl's head, which acts as a cup, was designed to make a rattling sound when making a toast. To discover how the head was constructed, Bonhams took the owl to a hospital where a full X-ray was carried out.
This subsequently revealed a fully enclosed chamber containing three loose clay beads - a remarkable accomplishment by the potter considering the jug was made between 1700 and 1710. The head is decorated with trails of pincered clay while the wings are made by rouletting, a technique which was intended to imitate the bird's plumage on its ovoid body. Sporting a thin-lined beak, deep-set eyes and covered with a beautiful auburn glaze, this rare and important owl has few direct precedents.
A scrap of paper, which appears to have been cut from a household account book, was discovered inside the jug. It reads: "A Jug Maide like A Owl given by Mrs Biddy, July 29 1840".
John Sandon, Bonhams' Head of British Ceramics, said: "We are delighted to be offering such an early unrecorded piece of pottery. It's an exciting find as there are only two or three known examples to date but this is the first I've seen in stoneware - which is exceptionally rare".
A slipware owl that was discovered during the BBC Television Antiques Roadshow in Northampton - nicknamed Ozzie - sold for £20,000 in March 1990 and is now a treasured piece in the City Museum in Stoke-on-Trent.
The owl jug is expected to fetch £15,000 to £17,000 and will be included in Bonhams' sale of Fine British Ceramics & Glass.
ENDS