Lot 407: Bronger Bros Penrith Clasped Hands Demijohn

Near Mint. A few tiny glaze flakes to upper lip. Small flake to inner lip on one of the threaded parts. Small scratch near rear base. Some grime scattered around. The original stopper has the lower part chipped from it. There are remnants of a label to the rear, the style of lettering and thickness of paper again to this being a later piece. Scratch to right side near base, there are a couple of little glaze flakes here. The lower part of the stamp has not struck properly in manufacture due to it being caught on the curve of the spiggot. The bottom of the R has subsequently been touched up, prior to the glaze being applied. The dark coloured glaze and black specks are synonymous with later pottery made in the UK, it is hard to know exact dates, but we are thinking this is from at least the 1960s. Bronger Bros. ceased operations decades prior to this, so this demijohn was NOT made for Bronger Bros. This demijohn recently turned up in a car boot sale in the UK. The original 2 gallon demijohn that is known has the exact same design to the stamp. This large example was likely made at Pearson's Chesterfield Pottery in the UK, as were most of the other demijohns of that style of that early 1900s period in Australia. Pearson's Pottery was running until 1994. Their works from the mid 1900s have a much darker glaze, very similar to that of this demijohn. It is possible that the original stamp was used at the original pottery half a century or more later to make this piece. For what reason is unknown, however it is unlikely a mass produced item for they took the time and effort to touch up the stamp prior to applying glaze, not something that would be done if they were making any number of these items. This piece is a fascinating item that would be a great go-with for any demijohn collection or Penrith collection! Grade: 9.4 Estimate: $400 - 500