Sold for A$346
The . Farquhar . Oldham / Standard / (Australian Coat of Arms) / Advance Australia / Filter / Melbourne. No potters stamp. (Victoria) (NOT FOR POST!) Pottery Water Filter Large filter shell on a bulbous reservoir base. All White. Slab Seal. 3 - 5 gallon? 650 mm without lid. 1900s
Fair. The protruding rim around the upper body under the lid was fully restored. The vendor has chipped the fill away to the left over a 170 mm section to investigate the extent and found that this ridge was majorly chipped off, but the upper edge where the lid sits is still original. He also chipped off to the rear over about 150 mm to reveal the same situation, so it looks highly likely that this ridge is chipped down to about flush with the body throughout the circumference. There may be a bit of less drastic work to the upper rim in places, but certainly original for the most part. The grooves on either side are an oddity, where the paint has been scratched off inside one of these it really does look glazed, and so this may be the way it was made? This filter has a ridge down the back from making, which you don't see a lot on this type of filter. Some dark marks down the left appear to be under glaze from making. Small flake with some green paint in it to bottom of standard slab seal. Small chip to bottom of filter slab seal. Little glaze flake to bottom of Melbourne slab seal. Little blowout to lower front body. A few scratches. In case you were wondering if this had been doctored, note that there is no spigot hole at the bottom of the filter body. This odd piece was purpose made with the large bulbous reservoir at the base, I have never seen another like this! The body is attached to the reservoir by a concrete looking substance which looks quite sound. The reservoir itself has some discolouration through the glaze from making. There are some dark scratch looking marks to the left. A fair bit of grime to the lower part. A couple of impact flakes at the base edge have short hairlines from them. The inner filter part at the base of the body has hefty chipping over about a third of it, this is of no concern as it is internal. The lid has a flake chip on one side, a few small chips to the inner rim, some fine hairlines from the rim but they don't come in too far. Some scratches as well. Also comes with a brass tap, which may be original to this piece? It is stamped Fiddian, it has some stains and seems to be inoperable. Also comes with a concrete plinth to display this on. Unsure on size, filter looks to be 2-3 gallon, the reservoir would be an extra couple of gallons. PLEASE NOTE, CAN'T BE SENT BY AUSTRALIA POST. PERSONAL ARRANGEMENTS WILL NEED TO BE MADE TO PICK IT UP, OR PACK AND SEND WILL NEED TO BE UTILISED. Grade: 5 Estimate: $300 - 400
