C. H. Brannam Barum Ware Cobalt Blue Pottery Jug

C. H. Brannam Barum Ware pottery jug from Barnstaple, Devon.
Rounded earthenware body with an integral loop handle and drawn pouring lip.
Finished inside and out in a deep cobalt-blue glossy glaze.
The underside is incised BRANNAM BARUM WARE with a further number.

Approximate dimensions

Capacity - 1½ pints (approx. 852 ml)

Condition

The glazed surface has some localised marks and discolouration, particularly within the interior. The underside has areas where the reddish-brown pottery body is exposed around and within the incised markings.

Description

A C. H. Brannam Barum Ware pottery jug of rounded, slightly ovoid form, with a broad open mouth, drawn pouring lip and large integral loop handle. The body is covered inside and out with a deep cobalt-blue glossy glaze.

The jug has a relatively simple undecorated form, the colour and glaze providing the principal decorative treatment. The mouth is slightly irregular in outline, with one section drawn outward to form the pouring lip. The handle rises from close beneath the rim and curves down to rejoin the lower body.

The underside exposes the reddish-brown earthenware body and is hand-incised with BRANNAM, BARUM and WARE. Beneath this is a further incised number which appears to read 156, although part of the numeral has subsequently been crossed or covered by another incised or glazed mark.

Research confirms Barum Ware as the art and domestic pottery associated with C. H. Brannam of Barnstaple, Devon. The National Gallery of Victoria records documented Brannam pieces bearing hand-incised C. H. Brannam and Barum Ware inscriptions, while Historic England records the firm's Litchdon Street pottery in Barnstaple and notes that Charles Hubert Brannam took over the firm in 1881.

The Art Fund records the surviving C. H. Brannam pottery collection as spanning 1879–2005 and specifically notes the firm's characteristic use of blue glazes. Later Brannam production increasingly included plainer domestic wares as well as the more elaborate decorated art pottery for which the firm is best known.

I would therefore identify this as genuine Brannam Barum Ware rather than generic studio pottery. The plain domestic form and monochrome blue glaze are more consistent with 20th-century Brannam production than with the highly decorated late-Victorian Barum art wares.

Object Type: Jug
Age: Post-1940
Material: Earthenware
Finish: Gloss Glaze
Brand: C. H. Brannam
Maker: C. H. Brannam
Product Line: Barum Ware
Colour: Cobalt Blue
Country / Region of Manufacture: Devon
Region: North Devon
City / Town: Barnstaple
Type: Pottery Jug

C H Brannam Barum Ware Cobalt Blue Pottery Jug Barnstaple Devon