Pair of Victorian Copper Lustre Jugs with Blue Band and Painted Fruit

A pair of Victorian copper lustre jugs, glowing like polished pans on a farmhouse dresser but without a minute of polishing required. Both have the rich, mirror bright copper finish that made lustreware such a favourite in nineteenth century homes, where it caught the light of candles and oil lamps and brightened even the darkest kitchen.

The larger jug is the showpiece, with a powder blue band around its belly decorated in raised, hand painted fruit and flowers in orange, pink, purple and green. Look closely beneath the spout and you’ll find a moulded mask face, a classic flourish of the period, along with beaded borders and an elegant scrolled handle. The smaller jug wears a band of textured blue, known as sanding, which gives a lovely soft contrast to the shine of the copper.

Copper lustre was made by painting earthenware with a glaze containing tiny amounts of gold, which fired to that warm metallic sheen. By around 1830, potters were dipping whole pieces to imitate solid copper, offering Victorian households the look of gleaming metalware at a fraction of the price. Most, like these, were made in Staffordshire and left unmarked.

The larger jug measures 19 x 18 cm and the smaller 16 x 18 cm. Both show gentle wear to the lustre consistent with their age, which gives them a softly mellowed warmth rather than a brand new gleam.

Fill the larger jug with dahlias or garden roses and let the smaller one hold a few sprigs of rosemary beside it, or line them up on a dresser with blue and white plates behind. They look wonderful on a kitchen windowsill catching the morning sun, and in autumn and winter they bring a lovely warmth to a mantelpiece alongside candlesticks and evergreen foliage. Sold together, they make a ready made display, or a thoughtful gift for anyone who loves Victorian ceramics.

Proof that the Victorians, too, liked the look of copper without the bother of cleaning it.