British vintage studio pottery 1975 slipware jug by Mary Wondrausch OBE

Size:  19 cm tall.  Would hold about 2 pints

Condition: Excellent condition, no chips cracks or restoration.

This jug by May Wondrausch is hand thrown and decorated in the traditional style of old English potters, a style which Wondrausch was pivotal in reviving as part of the 20th century British studio pottery revival.  The jug is in red-brown earthenware clay, covered in white slip (liquid clay) which is then incised with patterns, and then fired under a honey coloured transparent glaze which give a lovely warm glossy finish.  The glaze is applied overall, even on the base, and the jug has three stilt marks on the base where is was supported in the kiln.

The jug is signed by the potter and dated 1975.  It is an early piece of Wondrausch's ceramic work. as she opened her pottery in 1974, after training and working as a watercolour artist.

The decoration is traditional in style with an inscription, "In the morning I awoke to find the garden was full of flowers."  A similar jug by Wondrausch with the same inscription was sold recently from the contents of Munstead Wood, the garden of which was designed by Gertrude Jekyll.  it seems likely that the inscription is a quote from Jekyll, and that this jug was associated with Munstead Wood.

Mary Wondrausch (1923-2016) was originally a watercolour artist, and later trained as a potter at Farnham School of Art, latterly West Surrey College of Art and Design.  She was an honorary fellow of the Craft Potters Association and has work in the V&A Museum collection. She was awarded the OBE for services to the Arts in 2000.