The various design influences at play in British ceramics at the late nineteenth century set designers free form traditional forms and ornament. Brownfield's "Montana" jug provides a striking example.

Traditional curved jug forms are abandoned for four flat panel walls with spout and handle at opposite corners. The flat surface decoration favored by the pundits of advanced artistic taste is illustrated by the dense ground relief that resembles complex exotic weaving--and in fact makes the panels evocative of Asian woven screens. Scattered across the rich brown surface at regular intervals are flattened peony motifs, a flower with its own far eastern associations. There is no attempt at naturalistic design; the identical blossoms are instead elements in a pattern.

Perhaps the most traditional element of the "Montana" jug is its link to the continuing (and amusing) tradition of Staffordshire potters choosing incongruous names for their patterns. The 1840's, for example, saw the transfer pattern "Pennsylvania," which featured pagodas. One wonders what image of the mountainous state was conjured by this bit of marketing. Far away place names all seemed intriguingly exotic to the British consumers--specific details were completely superfluous.