The original Salisbury Jug?

An old friend, let’s call him Helmut the German, for that has become his name, is on a cycling tour of the UK. He’s been keeping us up to date with posts on his blog, and this morning posted his latest report on his day in Salisbury.

Helmut’s photo of Salisbury Jacks

One photo shows a collection of leather drinking vessels of various dates probably from the second quarter of the seventeenth century onwards. On close inspection, the bombard to the right seems to have been the prototype for the Salisbury Jug I wrote about a short while ago. It looks to be about two gallons, so is roughly eight times larger than the ceramic copy. The one to the back left is contemporary with the bombard and should be a quart (1200ml) based on both the minimum legal measure at the time and the scale of the reflections in the photo. The newer 18th century jacks in the foreground would then be about pint each, which again is right for that period.

Victorian period ceramic Salisbury Leather Jug.

Supporting my hunch about the potter moving the decoration to the side, on the leather version the crown and letter “R” are clearly seen on the front (opposite the handle) in the photo and I think I can see the numbers “46” below that. I had been expecting the decoration to be painted on, but the photo shows that it is incised, much like on the ceramic copy.