Featured Majolica monkey jug - Sarreguemines?

Discussion in 'Pottery, Glass, and Porcelain' started by aaroncab, May 30, 2019.

  1. aaroncab

    aaroncab in veritate victoria

    Picked up this majolica jug a while back and just got around to researching it. I see similar ones for sale around the internet listed as Sarreguemines - late 19th century - some marked, some not. What think ye? It's in pretty good shape for supposedly being that old (although it does have crazing just about all over - doesn't have any obvious damage or any use wear that i can detect). Were these more recently reproduced?

    8 1/2" tall - about 5" in diameter at the widest.

    Thanks again for your thoughts!

    47962472443_67e0190d78_kdev.jpg 47962500211_6cc47b6ce4_kdev.jpg 47962473758_6f209e048c_kdev.jpg 47962455512_0011e8e3fd_kdev.jpg 47962476518_fa13913c01_kdev.jpg 47962474063_b9315e61b4_kdev.jpg 47962457572_2e5c7de043_kdev.jpg 47962453297_747165f3d7_kdev.jpg
     
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  2. scoutshouse

    scoutshouse Well-Known Member

    He's extremely compelling - to me, anyway.

    Seems a ways out of the mainstream with his expressive face and sphinx-like bearing.

    Very cool.
     
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  3. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    I'd not call that majolica, no evidence of the tin underglaze and wrong body. It's more like a treacle glaze. I've had some wee animals like this, Staffordshire factories churned them out in the 19th C.
     
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  4. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    Went looking for ceramic baboon jugs & search inundated me with results for the company that made this. Specifically, looks like a mandrill, not just any old baboon:

    [​IMG]
     
  5. sabre123

    sabre123 Well-Known Member

    That thing need a strategically-placed fig leaf!
     
  6. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    Maybe move the beret down? I have seen the male mandrill at the Zoo many times contemplating the magnificence of himself just like this, except lacking the accessories. Although backside does have the wonderful look of multicolored cotton candy. (Is that candy floss in the UK?)
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2019
  7. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    Back on topic. How many openings are there in the muzzle to pour from? I'm only seeing 2 but guessing there would be 3? If it were not relatively small, would suggest it is for ice water, designed to keep ice from coming out.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2019
  8. silverthwait

    silverthwait Well-Known Member

    As my mother used to say, "Please, not at the table!"
     
  9. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    Yup, candy floss. Yum.
     
  10. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    What liquid would you put in a jug this size that has something in it you would want to hold back. Lemons floating in lemonade? Still too small. :confused:
     
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  11. aaroncab

    aaroncab in veritate victoria

    There's only one hole ...I'm thinking it's a milk or cream jug.
     
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  12. Bev aka thelmasstuff

    Bev aka thelmasstuff Colored pencil artist extraordinaire ;)

    I don't think it's Sarreguemines
     
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  13. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    Realized later 1 I thought I saw is just a lighting artifact. this makes it weirder still. What about pancake or other syrup? Want a reasonable opening to fill, but to be able to control the pouring out.
     
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  14. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

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  15. aaroncab

    aaroncab in veritate victoria

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  16. Bronwen

    Bronwen Well-Known Member

    I seriously doubt it. It they had been, we'd be finding more.
     
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  17. scoutshouse

    scoutshouse Well-Known Member

  18. scoutshouse

    scoutshouse Well-Known Member

    RARE ANTIQUE SARREGUEMINES MAJOLICA ABSINTHE BROWN GLAZE MONKEY PITCHER EWER.
    £69.99 + £18.00 postage
    0 bids


    A 19th century French Barbotine faïence, stylized monkey jug produced by Sarreguemines, “Le Singe”. A grotesque representation of the monkey likely used for water in the ritual of drinking Absinthe. The mouth serves as the spout while the tail becomes the handle. The jug shows a brown treacle-like glaze, with dark pooling from the ears to the front of the face. Book reference: “Majolica Figures” by Helen Cunningham, pg. 59.
    The pitcher has an all-over rich honey glaze, with darker detailing around the face and ears. It's believed the original design was a response to the outcry that attended the first publication of Darwin's Origin of Species, probably in the 1860s. Darwin's ideas on evolution were ridiculed by many, and he was lampooned and caricatured in many publications at the time. A great piece of antiquity and a must for any absinthe drinker looking for the relic pitcher! The jug measures 22 cm/8.75" high.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2019
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  19. scoutshouse

    scoutshouse Well-Known Member

    This guy needs further research, apparently... verifying book ref. and dimensions.

    Turquoise interior, two holes, marked and glazed base... And the listing above didn't show the base, at all.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
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  20. scoutshouse

    scoutshouse Well-Known Member

    Forgot the link

    [​IMG]
    Antique RARE SARREGUEMINES Majolica DARWIN'S Monkey Absinthe Jug Pitcher c 1880
    $299.99 + $22.05 Shipping
    Est. Delivery Tue, Jun 04 - Thu, Jun 06

    Yours has similar expression to this one... I wondered about his humanoid ear and expression! Is it me, or are they meant to look embryonic?
     
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