Name/TitleBeer jar

About this objectEarthenware jar made for the storage of beer, etc. The handle is missing.

It is stamped with the names and addresses of the makers and users. It was made by Doulton & Co. and used by T&J Raffe, wine and spirit merchants of Stowmarket.

Richard Hall, Research Volunteer:
Doulton and Co are perhaps one of the most famous names in the history of English potteries. The company began in 1815 as a partnership between John Doulton, Martha Jones and John Watts. Operating from a small site in Vauxhall, London. The company specialised in making glazed stoneware, specialising in sewer pipes, to expand London’s growing sewer system and other glazed household fittings such as lavatory bowls and cisterns. They also manufactured an increasing range of decorative and tableware.

One of their most famous customers was Queen Victoria, who in 1829, took delivery of a Doulton water filter, designed to make the water from the Thames safe to drink. The company soon outgrew its Vauxhall premises and moved to Lambeth, where our beer jar was made.

A second factory was opened in Stoke on Trent in 1882. The accolades continued and Henry Doulton son of the founder) became the first Potter in history to be awarded a Knighthood. The company was awarded a Royal Warrant in 1902. The London site was finally closed in 1955, when new City regulations, prevented the production of salt glazed items. The business moved all of its production to Stoke on Trent, where it remains today.

Thomas Raffe and his brother Jubal born in Combs and were travelling corn merchants and millers. Their family also owned a small shop in Combs. They settled in Stowmarket, Jubal living in Ipswich Street and Thomas at the Wine and Spirit store. By then, Thomas was also a farmer and employed four men and a boy to run his farm interests. The Wine and Spirit store had no signage on the street but on the gable end of the building, they had painted “Guinness and Co Dublin Stout, Foreign & British Wines and Spirits. T & J Raffe.”

Thomas died in 1877 aged only 53 years. In 1878, the business was sold to Alexander Clutterbuck for £2,800 (roughly £200,000 today) and Thomas’ wife Emily, was living at the premises as housekeeper to the barman, Robert Lewis.

The building was sold again in 1882 to Edward Greene, of Bury St Edmunds. The company later becoming Greene King Brewers. Around this time, it is believed the building seems to have acquired the name of “The Blue Posts”, although where the name originated is unknown. It continued to trade under a number of different managers until it finally surrendered its licence in 1941.

MakerDoulton & Co.

Maker RoleManufacturer

Place MadeLambeth Pottery, London

Medium and Materialsearthenware

Inscription and MarksStamped: 'T & J RAFFE
Wine and Spirit Merchants
Stowmarket'
'2' (gallons)
Stamped with maker:
'Doulton & Co.
Lambeth Pottery, London'

MeasurementsHeight: 1 ft, 4 inches;
: at shoulder: 11 1/2 inches
Diameter: 9 inches
Aperture: 1 1/4 inches

Object Typejar

Object numberSTMEA:A.174

Copyright LicenceAttribution - Non-commercial (cc)