The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 52 No 1 April 2013

Focus: New Zealand Ceramics
Bring on
the Jugs
An exploration by Christine Thacker
The word jug, and it's recent news to me, derives
from the female names and variants of Joan or
Judith, and once described a maidservant or low
woman. The dictionary cites this usage as rare
nowadays, and quite right too.
As all potters know, a jug begins as a vase
and with the modifications of a handle and lip
becomes a vessel for pouring.
Historically, the pottery jug would have been
the common carryall in every household for water
in the days when it was drinkable and w ine
and ale in earlier times when it wasn't. In New
Zealand the word jug became one with ale when
tap beer was dispensed in glass jugs, so much
so that The Flying Jug became the default name
for any pub known for drink-induced fights and
evictions. Definitions aside, the jug is a canonical
form for the potter and carries with it the weight
of history, nostalgia, tradition, comfort and joy
to temper and moderate ever-changing modern
lives.
In my ears, the word 'jug' shortcuts back
in time to one of those shoebox-shaped jugs
standing in the refrigerators (and bearing
the whiteware manufacturer's name), of my
childhood. This image is followed by a sensory
flash to the taste of icy cold water tinctured
with refrigerant from one of those jugs. The
next memory is the heaviness of such a cold and
slippery water-filled jug.
Katherine Smyth, Black Jug, 2006, earthenware, coilbuilt,
h.4Scm; photo: Guy Robinson