JUG, a vessel for holding liquid, usually with one handle and a lip, made of earthenware, glass or metal. The origin of the word in this sense is uncertain, but it is probably identical with a shortened form of the feminine name Joan or Joanna; cf. the similar use of Jack and Jill or Gill for a drinking-vessel or a liquor measure. It has also been used as a common expression for a homely woman, a servant-girl, a sweetheart, sometimes in a sense of disparagement. In slang, “jug” or “stone-jug” is used to denote a prison; this may possibly be an adaptation of Fr. joug, yoke, Lat. jugum. The word “jug” is probably onomatopoeic when used to represent a particular note of the nightingale’s song, or applied locally to various small birds, as the hedge-jug, &c.
The British Museum contains a remarkable bronze jug which was found at Kumasi during the Ashanti Expedition of 1896. It dates from the reign of Richard II., and is decorated in relief with the arms of England and the badge of the king. It has a lid, spout and handle, which ends in a quatrefoil. An inscription, on three raised bands round the body of the vessel, modernized runs:—“He that will not spare when he may shall not spend when he would. Deem the best in every doubt till the truth be tried out.” The British Museum Guide to the Medieval Room contains an illustration of this vessel.
A particular form of jug is the “ewer,” the precursor of the ordinary bedroom jug (an adaptation of O. Fr. ewaire, med. Lat. aquaria, water-pitcher, from aqua, water). The ewer was a jug with a wide spout, and was principally used at table for pouring water over the hands after eating, a matter of some necessity before the introduction of forks. Early ewers are sometimes mounted on three feet, and bear inscriptions such as Venez laver. A basin of similar material and design accompanied the ewer. In the 13th and 14th centuries a special type of metal ewer takes the form of animals, men on horseback, &c.; these are generally known as aquamaniles, from med. Lat. aqua manile or aqua manale (aqua, water, and manare, to trickle, pour, drip). The British Museum contains several examples.
In the 18th and early 19th centuries were made the drinking-vessels of pottery known as “Toby jugs,” properly Toby Fillpots or Philpots. These take the form of a stout old man, sometimes seated, with a three-cornered hat, the corners of which act as spouts. Similar drinking-vessels were also made representing characters popular at the time, such as “Nelson jugs,” &c.
JUGE, BOFFILLE DE (d. 1502), French-Italian adventurer and statesman, belonged to the family of del Giudice, which came from Amalfi, and followed the fortunes of the Angevin dynasty. When John of Anjou, duke of Calabria, was conquered in Italy (1461) and fled to Provence, Boffille followed him. He was given by Duke John and his father, King René, the charge of upholding by force of arms their claims on Catalonia. Louis XI., who had joined his troops to those of the princes of Anjou, attached Boffille to his own person, made him his chamberlain and conferred on him the vice-royalty of Roussillon and Cerdagne (1471), together with certain important lordships, among others the countship of Castres, confiscated from James of Armagnac, duke of Nemours (1476), and the temporalities of the bishopric of Castres, confiscated from John of Armagnac. He also entrusted him with diplomatic negotiations with Flanders and England. In 1480 Boffille married Marie d’Albret, sister of Alain the Great, thus confirming the feudal position which the king had given him in the south. He was appointed as one of the judges in the trial of René of Alençon, and showed such zeal in the discharge of his functions that Louis XI. rewarded him by fresh gifts. However, the bishop of Castres recovered his diocese (1483), and the heirs of the duke of Nemours took legal proceedings for the recovery of the countship of Castres. Boffille, with the object of escaping from his enemies, applied for the command of the armies of the republic of Venice. His application was refused, and he further lost the vice-royalty of Roussillon (1491). His daughter Louise married against his will a gentleman of no rank, and this led to terrible family dissensions. In order to disinherit his own family, Boffille de Juge gave up the countship of Castres to his brother-in-law, Alain d’Albret (1494). He died in 1502.
See P. M. Perret, Boffille de Juge, comte de Castres, et la république de Venise (1891); F. Pasquier, Inventaire des documents concernant Boffille de Juge (1905).
(M. P.*)