Majolica Franco-Russian Alliance Commemoration Jug c1894

~ Majolica Franco-Russian Alliance Commemoration Jug c1894 ~

A late 19th century majolica jug commemorating the Franco-Russian Alliance.

The jug has moulded relief decoration depicting French & Russian soldiers shaking hands to one side with the flags of both nations to the other. All are in pale coloured glazes on a pale blue ground.

The base and handle have a brown glaze and the interior has a pink/red glaze.

There is a mark to the underside but we have not been able to identify it as yet.

~ Dimensions ~

The jug has a diameter of 13.5cm (5 ¼ inches) and a height of 18cm (7 inches).

It weighs 675g.

~ Condition ~

The jug has a couple of small chips to the rim and some wear to the edges of rim and base.

There is some crazing of glaze.

The vase is otherwise free from damages and presents well.

~ Franco-Russian Alliance ~

The Franco-Russian Alliance (also called Dual Alliance or Russo-French Rapprochement), was a political and military pact that developed between France and Russia from friendly contacts in 1891 to a secret treaty in 1894.

It became one of the basic European alignments of the pre-World War I era.

The strengthening of the German Empire, the creation of the Triple Alliance of 1882, and the exacerbation of Franco-German and Russo-German contradictions at the end of the 1880s led to a common foreign policy and mutual strategic military interests between France and Russia. The development of financial ties between the two countries created the economic prerequisites for the Franco-Russian Alliance.

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