Monday, January 28, 2013

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Sussex Pig, 1840-1889


A Sussex Pig
England, mid to late 19th Century
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum



For those who always dreamed of yanking the head off of a pig and drinking from its neck, this lead-glazed earthenware vessel from Rye, England, is for you. Made between the mid and late Nineteenth Century, this sort of vessel was known as a “Sussex Pig,” and was, apparently, a pretty common sort of flask-type-thing.

Eh…it was covered in lead anyway, so, after awhile, you didn’t care that you were snorting from a pig. These flasks were also known as “hogsheads.” That’s not too surprising. This one came to the V&A from the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street.




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