Description: Parian jug decorated in the Charter Oak pattern and with an impressed "U.S.P. / No. 16 / 9" in a ribbon cut in the mold on the base. This is an early mark of the United States Pottery Company, where the numbers denote size and pattern. Parian or "statuary porcelain," the original term used by English firm of Copeland & Garrett of Stoke, Staffordshire, about 1842-1844, was usually an unglazed white body used to imitate the fine white color of marble in scaled-down replicas of marble statuary. Other English maufacturers quickly began producing their own recipes and using the Parian body in the slip-molding process to produce jugs, teapots, and ornamental objects, glazing the insides of those forms used to hold liquids and foods. Parian was probably first made in America in the mid-1840s at the Bennington factory run by Julius Norton (1809-1861) and his brother in law Christopher Webber Fenton (1806-1865) from 1840 to 1847 when that partnership dissolved. Fenton continued in operation in the north wind of Julius Norton's works until opening his own pottery in 1850, and changed the name of the factory to the United States Pottery Company which operated from 1847 to 1858. This panel-sided jug has relief molded decoration commonly referred to as the "Charter Oak" pattern - a tree trunk and climbing vine of oak leaves and acorns. The handle is shaped like a twig; the background of the jug has a pitted surface.
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