The item in question came from the Caughley factory: a 9in (22cm) blue and white cabbage leaf jug. It was printed to the moulded sides with the Fisherman and Cormorant pattern and beneath the spout was a panel containing the painted inscription Bridgin 1783.
The name of Bridgin is recorded in Shropshire archives from the 1600s, and a Thomas Bridgin is listed on the roll call of the county’s Loyal Volunteers in 1802.
However, says the auction house, it is possible that the jug relates to the Bridgen of Messrs Waller and Bridgen, who were London merchants listed as owning lands in North Carolina before they were confiscated and sold following the American Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The jug sold for £2200 against an estimate of £1000-1500 at the sale on April 30.
