A Samuel Alcock Majolica Pitcher, the body molded as a tree trunk with ferns, oak leaves, acorns, and ivy, entwined by a high relief-molded and naturalistically glazed snake, the handle formed as crossed branches glazed in yellow ocher with green-glazed ivy, the spout surmounted by a single green and yellow glazed frog, the interior glazed in brown and green tortoiseshell mottling (staining); the reverse with impressed mark, 'ALCOCK' (indistinct) and partial design number.

Samuel Alcock began his career in the early 1820s. In 1832, with his nephew Joeseph, he purchased the Hill Top Potteries in Burslem. He died in 1848, and the firm was successfully run by his wife and two sons, Samuel and Thomas, employing up to 700 people until closure due to bankruptcy in 1859.

(The Stoke-on-Trent Potteries website). The firm was among the first producers of majolica in England.

For thirty years, we have been among the preeminent specialists in fine English majolica.

BOOK REFERENCES:

Marilyn G. Karmason and Joan B. Stacke, MAJOLICA, A Complete History and Illustrated Survey. New York: Harry N. Abrams Publishers, Second Edition, 2002, p. 138.

Mark F. Moran, MAJOLICA. Iola, WI: KP Books, 2005, p. 92.

Dimensions: Height: 10 in (25.4 cm) x Width: 9 in (22.86 cm) x Depth: 6.5 in (16.51 cm)