A German Stoneware Bellarmine 'Bearded' Jug c. 1650

Origin: German. Rhenish

Colour: Tiger-glazed

Dimensions: Height 8.75 inches Body Width 6.0 inches Base 2.55 inches

Lip: Hand turned

Base: Flat

Source: Sotheby's. England

Condition:Great.
Chips to footrim. Glaze hairline running at side of emblem and at the side of neck down to shoulder.

Special features:
Rhenish stoneware Bellarmine Jug with a well-formed ovoid body, neck-cordons, bearded mask and circular medallion enclosing a rampant lion.

This is the third and last jug from the Cosbert collection showing a rampant lion within an oval medallion. My assumption is that the rampant lion is the trade mark of the 17th century Rhenish potter. The surface of this Bellarmine jug is tiger-glazed. Compare this to the first piece has a goldish combination glaze, the second a silverish glass and this one is tiger glaze. One could assume that this potter was at the apex of his craft.

Reference: German Stoneware 1200-1900, David Gaimster, British Museum Press, 1977.