Alternating full length figures from far-away China occupy the vertical panels of this white stoneware jug. Their costumes are depicted with some attention to detail, suggesting a vague ethnographic intention in the design.

In other jugs, the combination of paneled body and pedestal foot is associated with gothic design. Here perhaps the form suggests the architecture of pagodas--structures that achieved some popularity in romantic British gardens. While the tracery arches above the figures may have originated in the gothic tradition, the handle and floral relief at the spout push the design in a rococo direction. Altogether the effect is a typically tasty collation of  Victorian styles.

Kathy Hughes, A Collector's Guide to Nineteenth Century Jugs Volume I, lists this jug as "maker unknown."  In Volume II she notes in "Appendix III: Corrections and Additions" that an example marked S. Hughes & Co. had been recorded.