A very rare large Siegburg stoneware armorial jug or pitcher (Bartmannskrug), circa 1560-80

Of bulbous shape with ribbed neck and flat base, the white stoneware covered on the outside with a thick cream-coloured slip under splashes of cobalt coloured glaze, the applied decoration with two centrally placed people, one man holding a spear, and a woman to his right with a whippet dog by her side, both flanked by large coat of arms of the united Duchies of Jülich, Cleve and Berg, the coats of arms each flanked by two large rampant lions, the rim with a large Bartmann or bearded man, 31cm high (original handle professionally restuck)

This object is part of a group of rare large pitchers featuring a similar combination of arms. A comparable pitcher in the British Museum is illustrated by D. Gaimster, German Stoneware, 1200-1900, cat.no. 16, colour plate p.8, the upper body is applied on three sides with moulded shields-of-arms supported by full-length male and female figures in contemporary costume; with the arms of Spain; with the Imperial arms; with the arms of the Duchy of Jülich-Cleve-Berg. Another example with the coat of arms of added applied rosettes and leaves in the collection of the Rijksmuseum is illustrated on the cover of Ekkart Klinge, Duits Steengoed/German Stoneware, 2002.

The duchies of Jülich-Cleve-Berg were an amalgamation of the duchies of Jülich, Cleve and Berg, the rulers of Ravenstein and the Westphalian counties of Mark and Ravensberg. Between 1538 and 1543, the Duchy of Geldern and the County of Zutphen (now in the Netherlands) also belonged to this territorial association. With the beginning of the Brandenburg rule in the territories, castle Schwanenburg in Cleve and later Düsseldorf served as a joint residence. The area was part of the Holy Roman Empire.