Vintage Burleigh Ware Pied Piper Jug, circa 1940s

A storybook masterpiece from the golden age of Staffordshire pottery. This Art Deco jug was made by Burgess & Leigh at the Middleport Pottery in Burslem. Its handle is modelled as the Pied Piper of Hamelin himself, leaning into the rim with pipe raised, mid-tune. Below him a tumble of rats swirls around the foot, following the music exactly as the legend says.

The body is in Burleigh’s signature buttercup-yellow glaze. It carries a relief-moulded scene of Hamelin’s spired church and castle walls under a hand-brushed sunset sky in orange and sage. The Piper wears a polka-dot doublet, green hose and a black peaked cap. The rim has the classic Burleigh black-spot border and the interior is lined in soft green, all hand-painted by Burslem paintresses.

The Pied Piper was designed by Ernest Bailey, Burleigh’s celebrated modeller. It belongs to the company’s famous series of figural-handle jugs alongside the Dragon, Kingfisher, Parrot, Highwayman and Squirrel. These jugs are among the most collected English Art Deco ceramics in the world.

~ 21cm tall

Available at La La Vintage                                                                                                                                             67 Semaphore Road,                                                                                                                                         Semaphore SA 5019                                                                                                                                               (Next to Odeon Cinema)