Jug, cream jug

Nicholas Sprimont, a Huguenot goldsmith, ran the Chelsea porcelain manufactory, supported financially by the diplomat Sir Everard Fawkener. He was born in Liège, a French-speaking part of Flanders, and was trained as a silversmith. His skill as a modeller and designer is reflected in many of the factory's early productions. A wide range of influences inspired Chelsea wares including designs found on French, German and Oriental porcelains. Chelsea porcelain was aimed at an aristocratic and wealthy clientele.

This soft-paste slip-cast cream jug, known as a 'goat and bee jug', may have been one of the first pieces designed by Sprimont. A related model exists in silver carrying his maker's mark. Some of these small porcelain jugs are marked on the base with the date '1745'. Others like this one just carry the incised triangle mark which is found on Chelsea wares produced between 1745 and 1749. Some jugs are undecorated while others are painted in enamel colours. This jug includes a finely painted butterfly, insects and flowers on the body of the jug, with the base and branch handle also decorated.