|
Type 1 is a standard Dartmouth Pottery Gurgling Fish Jug with the addition of the hand piped words "FOR A PLYMOUTH MAN" on each side of the base.
|
|
|
|
|
For a Plymouth Man
|
|
These Gurgling Jugs were produced for the Society Of Plymouth Men and a Gurgling jug appears in a 1959 Plymouth Gin Advertisement. The Knight depicted in the advert is championing Plymouth Gin, his heraldic emblem, the Gurgling Jug, is shown on the his Squire's tunic and his "Ladies" podium.
|
|
|
Dartmouth Pottery also produced a Knight for the Society with the hand piped words "Plymouth Man" on the base
|
|
|
|
The Society of Plymouth Men was formed as an international society of Plymouth Gin fanciers to challenge the "London" men including an overseas chapter based in New York and and administered by Schieffelin & Co, the Plymouth Gin importers at the time. Each member of the society was issued with a membership card that had the members own specification for his/her perfect Martini printed on it
|
|
|
This was followed by two jugs that had the words "PLYMOUTH GIN" hand piped on the gills of the fish and the words "THE SPIRIT" on the side of the base when the jug faces right, then either the words "OF THE WEST" (Type 2), for the UK market or "OF ENGLAND" (Type 3) for the export market, on the other side when the jug faces left.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Spirit of the West
|
|
|
|
|
The Spirit of the England
|
|
Later Gurgling Jugs
From the late 1960's new colours, Sage Green, 1967, Type 4, Norse Blue, 1969, Type 5, Brown, in the early 1970's, Type 6 and Light Blue, Type 7, 1988 were introduced, these were made from white clay and were finished in a high gloss coloured glaze and the words "PLYMOUTH GIN" moulded into the gills at the time of original casting and without any additional wording on the base. These last 4 types appear to have been in production until 2002 when Dartmouth Pottery unfortunately closed. Some of these last four types have the words "PLYMOUTH GIN" picked out in gold, silver or white paint, but the majority of these types do not appear have this feature.
|
|
|
|
|
Sage Green, 1967, Type 4
|
|
|
 |
|
Norse Blue, 1969, Type 5
|
|
|
|
Brown, early 1970's, Type 6
|
|
|
 |
|
Light Blue, Type 7, 1988
|
Miniature Gurgling Jugs
The last 2 types are Miniature Gurgling Jugs, 10cms (4") high. These jugs are made from the blue clay and slip glazed in the same way as the earlier full size jugs. They have the painted words "PINK PLYMOUTH" on both sides of the base, examples are known in both Blue and Pink. The first of these (Type 8), were sold by Plymouth Gin containing Pink Gin, a traditional drink of the Royal Navy made adding Angostura Bitters to Navy Strength Plymouth Gin. These bitters were discovered to be a cure for sea sickness in 1824 by Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert and by adding them to the the gin made them more palatable. The miniature Gurgling jug was closed with a metal wrapped cork stopper.
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
Type 9 is a very similar design to type 8 but this is a Angostura Bitters dispenser with only a single small hole in the mouth of the fish to add dashes as required and a small hole in the base plugged with a cork for refilling.
There may be, of course, be further variations of these Plymouth Gin Gurgling Jugs, if you know of any or have any further information, please use the "Contact Us" button.
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
