Hand Painted Toleware Jug in Black with Canal Art Flowers

A glossy black jug covered in a tumble of hand painted flowers, this toleware pitcher brings a burst of canal boat cheer to any shelf. Creamy daisies, dusky pink roses, a golden tulip and a scattering of bright blue forget me nots spill across the front, all laid on with the quick, confident brushstrokes of traditional narrowboat painting.

Painted tinware like this grew out of the canal art of the nineteenth century, when boat families decorated their cabins, water cans and dippers with roses and castles to bring colour to life on the water. This jug is a later handcrafted piece made in that spirit, and a small label beneath confirms that each one was painted individually, so no two are quite alike.

The shape is a classic: a tall tapering body, a neat raised band at the shoulder, a generous flared spout and a broad flat strap handle that sits comfortably in the hand. The bouquet wraps round to the far side, so it looks good from more than one angle.

She stands 18.5cm high and measures 18cm wide including the handle, with a base diameter of 11.5cm, and weighs 330g. There are a few small chips to the paintwork along the rim, mostly where the spout meets the handle, which we have photographed so you can see them clearly. The painted flowers themselves are bright and unworn.

The label advises dry use only, so we would fill her with dried hydrangeas, eucalyptus or honesty, or tuck a jam jar inside for fresh stems like the alstroemeria in our photographs. She looks at home on a farmhouse dresser, a kitchen windowsill or beside a stack of old books, and she sits happily alongside our other toleware and painted folk art pieces.