272 
RERAMIC STUDIO 
the wife of Gen. Lee, and on the outbreak of the civil war, were 
seized by the Federal forces and now repose in the National 
Museum at Washington. Pieces from that set occasionally come 
up for sale. A plate last winter in New York brought $275. 
a 
LOWESTOFT DECORATION ON OLD ENGLISH PORCELAIN 
WE reproduce here two extremely interesting pieces of 
early English porcelain, which on first examination 
any collector would pronounce to be specimens of genuine 
English Lowestoft. The shapes are evidently English, the 
ware is of the soft bone body characteristic of the English 
porcelain of a century ago, the glaze very white where not 
discolored by age, although by comparison with hard porce- 
to be genuine Lowestoft. A number of them will undoubt- 
edly, after further investigation, be recognized as of some other 
make, and it is probable that many are either Liverpool or 
Bristol, the latter, if the body is hard porcelain. We under- 
stand that some of the best authorities are beginning to be- 
lieve that no porcelain whatever was made at Lowestoft, only 
pottery with blue decoration. Mr. Barber is gathering data 
and facts on the subject which will be published later on. 
We will not venture to say what the fine pieces of our 
second illustration are, as they bear no mark. The decoration 
is not as truly Lowestoft as on the tea pot and creamer illus- 
trated above, the festoon border being more elaborate than 
the ordinary Lowestoft festoons. The porcelain is also white 
and of course like any of the other English porcelains of 
the time. But this set, of whatever make it is, and notwith- 
standing the fact that the sugar bowl does not exactly match 
the tea pot and creamer, is remarkably fine on account of its 
excellent condition. This is not the case with the Liverpool 
pieces of first illustration, which are somewhat chipped, 
cracked and discolored. 
a 
HIRSCHVOGEL JUG 
THE sale of the contents of the nth Century Castle of 
Mainberg (Germany) took place in Berlin last October. 
It is owing to the death of the owner that this unique collection 
came to the market, consisting of wood carvings, painted glass, 
early German drinking vessels in stoneware, faience and 
enameled glass, weapons and armour, pictures, metal work and 
lain it would probably appear to be a slightly creamy white, 
the decoration is identical to that of the so-called Lowestoft 
ware. But on close examination, the impressed mark of 
" Herculaneum" is found on both pieces, on the raised edge 
of the base, in small capital letters more or less worn out, so 
that in this unusual place it is difficult to find, even when one 
looks for it, knowing that the pieces are marked. 
The Herculaneum Pottery of Liverpool was established 
in 1796 and closed in 1833. The production of porcelain ware 
was commenced in 1800 and continued to the close of the 
works. The mark most generally used was " Herculaneum " in 
capital letters impressed, although after 1 822 this was generally 
replaced by the mark "Herculaneum Pottery." The decoration 
onLiverpool china is, as a rule, more elaborate than the specimens 
of our illustration. On the other side it would not be safe to 
conclude that all porcelains with somewhat similar decoration 
must be Liverpool. In fact it is almost impossible to identify 
immarked specimens of these early English porcelains with so- 
called Lowestoft decoration, and which have been supposed 
Old English Porcelain with decoration somewhat sit 
Unmarked. By courtesy of Arthur True & Co 
r to Lowestoft, 
:w York, 
bric-a-brac. The c/ou of the sale was the unrivaled and highly rep- 
resentative collection of early German drinking vessels of stone- 
ware, faience and enameled glass, comprising specimens from 
practically every known factory of importance, Cologne, Teer- 
burg, Rouen, Fricken, Nassau, Nuremburg, Bayreuth, Alten- 
burg and Kreussen. By far the highest price for an individual 
vessel was .£180 for the Hirschvogel jug here illustrated, the 
finest known example of the work of the celebrated family of 
that name who were master potters at Nuremburg from 1471 
to 1564. This particular specimen is 20 inches high and deco- 
rated with scenes from the life of Christ, notably the Cruci- 
fixion, in bold relief, and was well worth the price paid for it. 
Two Kreussener mugs sold respectively for £65 and £62, ]6s, 
and other drinking vessels of various makes fetched from £1$ 
to £"36 a piece. ( The Connoisseur.) 
