Broken Handle? No Problem.

This toddy jug, pictured in a 1917 auction catalog, has a rather thin handle. Wait–what’s that? Did someone draw a handle onto the catalog?

Yes, dear Reader, they did. Was it a bit of tomfoolery or an actual attempt to fool a bidder (the Author expects the former)?

This Lowestoft jug, made in China circa 1800, was ordered by Benjamin Chew Wilcocks and given to his cousin Edward Tilghman. The portrait of Washington was copied by a Chinese artist from an engraving by David Edwin.

A twin jug lives in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Coincidentally, the Author had made a note of this same jug a few years ago, alarmed by how peculiar George Washington looked in his portrait.

The Lowestoft Toddy Jug from the MET’s collection. Photographed 2013.