The Stonington Historical Society introduces a limited edition jug based on the antique Liverpool Pottery Battle Jug.

photo by James Boylan

Earlier this year, after long research, the Stonington Historical Society introduced a limited edition jug based on the antique Liverpool Pottery Battle Jug that holds a place of honor at the Society’s Old Lighthouse Museum.

The Society commissioned only 100 of these numbered jugs from the noted Mottahedeh Porcelain Company in Portugal. When the Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer House was decorated for holiday events, Elizabeth Wood, former president of the Stonington Garden Club, chose to use the jug as the basis for a mantel decoration. Her design is shown here, lush with roses and greens, but she said holly and ivy are also appropriate.

This jug, like the original 1818 jug, portrays what the historian Tertius de Kay believes is the only reasonable representation of the way Stonington Point looked during the three-day attack by the Royal Navy in August 1814. In the foreground is the shore of Wamphussuc Point, with a tree. Beyond on the horizon is Napatree Point. Bulking large is the British flotilla around Stonington Point, including an earlier lighthouse. This is the battle in which the 16-star flag was nailed to the staff and the ragged militia drove the ships off.

For the reproduction jug, 7¼ inches tall, computer techniques were used to flatten the curved image and create a level horizon. For the back of the jug, de Kay, author of the history “The Battle of Stonington,” selected lines from the final  verse of “The Star Spangled Banner,” which was written shortly after the battle.

The new porcelain jug proved popular for graduation and wedding presents, but it now emerges as a wonderful gift to ornament local homes.  This jug is available only from the Society.

The jugs are $200 each, plus any shipping. For information, call Anne Tate, director of the Historical Society’s Woolworth Library, 860-535-1131.