Lord Eglinton, like many of his fellow nobles, fell into a mania for collecting medieval armor and held a large scale tournament in 1838 as an opportunity for the lords to strut their stuff. It was widely publicized, massively attended, and disastrously bedeviled by rain. The resulting fiasco provided rich fodder for the nation's satirists. Other than some amusing caricatures of knights holding umbrellas, Ridgway's jug may be the tournament's most lasting vestige. It preserves the lord's boyishly romantic vision undiminished by the weather.

A note on the impressed mark -- Close examination of the impressed mark reads "Published By William Ridgway & Co.,  Oct. 1, 1835."  Other examples  we have handled have carried a notation of Sept. 1, 1840  -- which is also confirmed by both Kathy Hughes (A Collector's Guide to Nineteenth Century Jugs) and R.K. Henrywood (Relief Moulded Jugs, 1820-1900).  We can only assume there was some mix-up in the stamps used to impress the mark into the clay prior to final firing. It is amusing to think how dazzled those potters would have been to think collectors would be puzzling over this detail some 175 years later.