Image: Tudor thumb pot (left), Earthenware watering pot (right)
This watering pot (shown right above) was the Museum’s prize acquisition at the 1990 McAlpine sale of West Green House, as noted in the introduction. Described by Country Life (1990) as ‘the most rare, attractive, covetable and valuable’ lot, the pot had the highest asking price of all the gardening implements. This glazed earthenware pot is one of a handful to have survived over the centuries; this type of watering device with its short spout and broad rose superseded the thumb pot in British gardens.
Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Ref: 1996.237