Stoneware Cider Jar
MakerMade by
Ray Finch
(London, England, 1914 - 2012)
MakerMade at
Winchcombe Pottery
(Winchcombe, England, founded 1926)
StudentTaught by
Michael Cardew
(Wimbledon, London, England, 1901 - 1983)
StudentTaught by
Dora Billington
(Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, 1890 - 1968)
CollectorCollected by
Sandy Dunbar
(London, England, 1929 - 2012)
Date1997
Object NameJar
Mediumstoneware and slips
ClassificationsCeramics
DimensionsOverall (Height x Width): 285 x 185 mm,
Base (Diameter): 106 mm
Rim (Diameter): 40 mm
Base (Diameter): 106 mm
Rim (Diameter): 40 mm
AcquisitionThe Sandy Dunbar Studio Ceramics Collection presented in 2023 by Crinan Dunbar and Rebecca Russell.
LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub
Object numberABDMS095708.340
About MeStoneware bottle-shaped cider jar with round belly, tapering to foot and towards the shoulder which rises in a slim concave neck. Thick collar rim and pulled handle. A hole has been made towards the foot into which a turned wood tap (ABDMS095708.340.2) can be inserted. The hole is plugged with a cork circle to ensure a snug fit. There is also a cork stopper in the neck.
The cider jar is glazed all over in a blueish grey mottled ash glaze over a white slip with flecks of iron brown. It is decorated with combed waved bands and abstract swirls. Combing is a decorative technique where a comb of wood, or another material, is drawn through the slip before it is fully dry to create a pattern. This technique was frequently used at Winchcombe.
Ray Finch was one of the UK's leading makers of tableware at the Winchcombe Pottery near Cheltenham, where he led a team of talented potters. He embedded his own work within the standard domestic ware made at the workshop, making a limited number of distinctive larger pieces. Finch has made cider jars from the 1960s seeing them as fulfilling his desire to make larger pots after a period of making smaller more domestic wares.
Exhibitions
