early crested pottery jug - please help!

[awhitetriangle]

new member - first post - hi to everyone and thanks in advance if anyone is able to help with this one!

i collect art, mid century furniture and antiquities. so hopefully i may be able to help some other members out.[/img][/img]

this piece was purchased at auction in the uk along with some roman pottery.

i've tried to research the crest but to no avail. there is what appears to be some early cyrillic writing. there are no other marks, it appears to be very old. it stands 30 cm tall. on to the pics...

[sugarcube5419]

there's a member Matt that is sharp as a tack and will help you I bet

[awhitetriangle]

hi sugar, thanks for your reply, i am really keen to know anything about it as all my research has drawn a blank!

[frogpatch]

It sure has some age to it. The red clay should be a clue. It looks British to me with the crown and standing lion. Just an educated guess.

[awhitetriangle]

thanks frogpatch, the crown and the form of the coat of arms doesn't look english to me.

i just received this back from sothebys.

"The inscription definitely seems to be in Cyrillic, but the coat-of-arms
doesn't fit with Russian heraldry.  It could be from areas now called
Bulgarian, Ukrainian (or a border area that could be Ukraine or Poland now),
Serbian, or Macedonian.  If it is indeed Cyrillic, it looks like Zuoch
(Зуоч) or Zuol (Зуол).  I searched both and couldn't find anything.  I would
pursue Ukrainian sources first, since it seems most likely."

[sugarcube5419]

so I wonder how old that would make it?

[awhitetriangle]

good question sugar, judging by the barrel form and tin glaze i guessed it was 17th/18 c, more research needed!

[mart]

Would this jug hold approx. a pint ?? My opinion is that it is a 19th century pub jug looking at the staining on the bottom !!

[awhitetriangle]

hi mart, i'd say at a guess it holds about 6+ pints, it's stained black inside so maybe wine?

[cogar]

Does the stencil pattern on it help date it? 

[awhitetriangle]

i'm trying to research the coat of arms now, the closest i have found so far is for gordon the earl of norwich but that's not it!

[mart]

Could well be wine but I am guessing dark ale !! And isn`t your pint as used in a pub more than what we in the U.S call a pint ??
I have looked and so far have decided that it may have been used just as decoration by the pottery that made it !! I see nothing other than the rampant lion and crown as Imperial symbols to indicate a particular family !! It is a rather plain COA !!

[Rauville]

I would guess that the "COA" is the sign of the pub...wherever it might have been.

[mart]

Could well be Rauville !! My feeling is that its from Scotland !! Don`t ask me why !!

[awhitetriangle]

thanks guys, a pint in the uk is just over 568 ml not sure how that compares to a us pint. the coa may well be for a tavern, the thing that puzzels me is why the cyrillic if it were british you'd generally expect to see latin or english inscriptions. i'm stopping by a dealer friend of mine later today if hes back from his buying spree... maybe he might know something? thanks again...