Pinte cidre, 1.0l stoneware table jug
£47.50

Slightly confusingly known by local producers as a Pinte Cidre or Pinte vin (Cider Pint, or Wine Pint) but actually having a capacity of just over a litre, this elegant type of stoneware jug was common through western France during the 18th and 19th centuries, and the shape undoubtedly seems semi familiar, as though glimpsed half unseen amidst the background of some ill-drawn and over-wrought history painting. Hand made since 1875 by Poterie Digoin, in the northern Loire valley, an area rich in clay and silt mineral deposits, but as importantly at a major junction in the French canal network, whose distribution allowed the nascent pottery to quickly establish itself at the heart of the French kitchen. 1 litre capacity, just over 20cm high. Stoneware goblets available separately.