Ok, so I just got this jug today. Took a bit to get here from England. I am in awe and love this little thing. Except...
The lion heads feel like plastic. The jug is definitely hand made and hand hammered, and all the reading I have been doing suggests it's really old. If it's a reproduction, someone took an awful lot of time to hand make this. Then again, many people overseas can do that. I am very confused about the lion heads though. I read that plastics and celluloid date back to the 1850's and were used for many different decorations and items. But these lions were definitely hand-hammered in and hammered on the inside to keep them secure. If these were flimsy plastic, wouldn't they break or crack from all that hammer pounding? They also have a very authentic looking patina, it doesn't look like any kind of paint or anything. Plastic can't get a patina, I don't think...
The lion heads are also not both exactly the same, they have slightly different markings. To me, if they were some kind of repro, they would be exactly the same. Because the mold would be the same. Are there any metals at all that people commonly mistake for plastic? Some sort of cheap metal they used maybe? They are pretty cool to the touch. Not room temperature like the other plastics I am touching around me. This is very confusing. I was so excited until I tapped on those lion heads. I am really hoping that just because they feel like plastic, this doesn't mean they are new plastic. I really think this is very old, I can feel it when I hold it. The copper on the inside bottom is very worn down, and it gradually gets better as you get closer to the top. Which suggests long use to me. Pretty hard to fake the way the inside looks. However, it is strange that there are no maker's marks. At least not any I can see. Any ideas? Fake or real? Oh, and what about those scrape marks on the sides of the heads? Is that more likely to be from a hand tool or a mold or something?
