Welcome to Curator’s Choice, a regular feature where our Museum Curator shines a spotlight on standout items from the NTG collection.
Carefully selected for their historical significance, unique stories, or remarkable craftsmanship, these objects offer a fascinating glimpse into our shared heritage. Each chosen piece will be displayed at the Museum during the year, giving visitors the rare opportunity to enjoy an up-close look and learn more about these treasured items.
This 19th-century full-bellied flagon, a jug commonly used for decanting cider, is a fine representation of Guernsey's renowned apple-growing industry and cider heritage.
The Channel Islands, including Guernsey, have a long history of cider production, with records dating back to the 16th century. During this period, cider, celebrated for its premium quality, was exported in large quantities to England.
This stoneware jug was crafted in Normandy; however, many regional variations of jugs can be found specifically for storing and serving. This design features a small handle and an off-centered narrow neck, intended for the insertion of a cork.
The jug was salt-glazed, a process that gives it its distinctive translucent finish and subtly textured, orange-peel-like surface. This effect is achieved by throwing common salt into the kiln at high temperatures, where it vaporises and reacts with the silica in the clay, creating this unique glaze. It was a cheaper and more efficient way of firing the clay. This was the final step of the process, where the pots are loaded into a brick pit kiln in layers surrounded by combustible materials.
Alternatively, a flagon could have also been fired with wood, seaweed, copper, and many other organic materials. The pit kiln would have been lit from the top and slowly burned down through the pottery. The pit kiln is kept fed with wood for up to six hours to be able to reach the high temperatures of 900 to 1000 degrees celsius. This process is thought to have been discovered from using salt-soaked driftwood or brine encrusted staves of barrels as fuel in the wood fired kilns.
Elainer Lainé