Victorian Bourne Denby Stoneware Flour Storage Jar with Lid, c.1870–1890

A wonderful late 19th-century stoneware flour storage jar by Bourne Denby, Derbyshire, dating to the Victorian period.

Generously proportioned and full of character, the jar features a warm honey-brown glazed shoulder over a contrasting natural buff stoneware body, with bold black FLOUR lettering to the front. A decorative impressed band encircles the shoulder, while a pair of small applied handles adds to its traditional utilitarian form.

The shoulder bears the impressed Bourne Denby maker's mark together with the number 1, denoting its size or capacity. Comparable Bourne Denby lidded food-storage jars bearing this impressed mark have been dated to before 1890.

Complete with a coordinating stoneware lid, the piece displays the subtle irregularities, glaze variation and surface character associated with traditional stoneware manufacture. The underside of the lid retains particularly attractive concentric throwing and finishing marks.

Founded in Derbyshire in 1809, Denby developed an important reputation for durable stoneware, with Joseph Bourne establishing the pottery business and developing its salt-glazed wares.

Originally an entirely practical piece of Victorian kitchen storage, today it makes a wonderfully decorative addition to a kitchen, pantry or open shelving display.