Victorian Cut-Glass Claret Jug (Eton Gun Club – 1877)

This lovely, antique, cut crystal and ‘Britannia’ metal claret jug has a beautiful cut glass tapering body decorated with hand cut and etched long ferns and lily pad leaves. The metal mount has a cast spout featuring the face of ‘Bacchus’ (Greek God of wine), a domed hinged lid with an ‘acorn’ finial, and it appears the jug was awarded as a prize in 1877, as it’s engraved on the side ‘ETON GUN CLUB’, ‘WON BY J. PARKER’ ‘JAN 1-1877’. The claret jug stands 28cm high with a base diameter of 11cm and weighs 950g. Other than a fair amount of aging to the metal collar, it’s in great condition with an early polished pontil mark on the base.