Milk jug

The pot is complete, except for a small chip under the rim and a crack. It is circular in shape, except for the top, which is oval. In cross-section, the rim is flared at the top, with long undulations that continue to the front to form a small pouring spout; in its posterior portion, the rim is flat and joins the handle with a flat tenon. The wall is straight and cylindrical, while its lower portion curves towards the bottom; it rests on a knob, which joins with a conical pedestal. The handle is vertical and massive, oval in cross-section and curved in an arc. Its upper section is connected to the rim by a horizontal segment, and its top protrudes beyond the rim of the pot, while its lower end is folded down to rest on the wall. The center of the foot is hollow, and its fulcrum is free of glaze. The decoration is molded and hand-painted in blue underglaze and polychrome enamels in pink, green, orange-red, violet, brown, blue and white overglaze, with touches of gilding, in the Famille rose style. It is of the scenic type. The molded decoration is visible on the handle, which has been molded separately, as well as on the lower part of the wall. The handle is molded in the shape of a curved twig, with an oval and concave surface and a spiral top. The body of the jug has been molded to give it its shape and to model the pouring spout; the lower part of the wall is decorated with a row of slightly domed oval gadroons. Painted decoration is visible on the rim, wall, foot and handle. The blue painted decoration is visible on all these parts, except the handle. On the rim, it consists of a braid underlined by a red-painted fillet; the braid is trimmed with a double latticework of lozenges. The wall below the spout is adorned with an oval medallion with a wavy outline surrounded by a red line; it is made of scrolls trimmed with trifoliate motifs and a flower. The sides are adorned with two superimposed leafy and flowering stems. The gadroons are edged with a line and trimmed with vertical lines. The foot’s knob is adorned with three leafy, flowering stems arranged in a triangle, while the foot is also adorned with three similar but more massive groups, to which touches of red and green enamel have been added. The foot’s rim is adorned with a double fillet. The main enamel decoration is found inside the medallion below the spout; it consists of a scene outside a house, on which appear a man, a woman and a child, outlined in red and black, standing next to a fence outlined in black with white and blue highlights. The man’s hair and clothes are painted brown and pink, the woman is in turquoise, pink and yellow, while the child is in red. At the window of the house stands a young girl dressed like the woman, holding a fan drawn in black and painted white. The sides are adorned with massive clouds with tails, traced and painted in red. The underside of the rim and the wall on the handle side are adorned with flowering, leafy stems painted purple. Gold accents have been added to the underside of the rim, the wall and the entire handle, but have largely disappeared.