Confusing tabacco jar?? marked with triangle with the corners cut off - but not quite a hexagon

by Ilse Clark
(Eastern Cape, South Africa)

Hello to you

What a lovely site! I am so thankful that people like you exist in the world.

I bought this jar in a charity shop here in South Africa. I love looking around for things that catch my eye, and occasionally I get lucky enough to find something special. We have many charity shops here, most little towns will have either an SPCA, Animal welfare or Hospice shop. Sadly (I suppose) these shops are often staffed by volunteers who have no idea what they are selling. Now and then I will buy something for myself, but mostly it is under the ruse of meaning to re-sell. As a single mom, I have now decided to start getting things together and seeing if I can put some on auction.

I did not think this was particularly pretty but it did seem unusual. I paid very little for it, probably about the equivalent of one English pound.

It is in good condition, but identifying it has got me stumped. Like most people these days I have used the internet to do this, using every description I could think of. Theme, colors, and anything else I could think of.

I have searched and searched so many marks on the internet, but describing the mark is also difficult. It is essentially a triangle with the corners cut off - but not quite a hexagon as the sides are not equal.. Inside that shape is a circle within which is something that I have made myself believe could be an animal. I also think the 3 "corners" have letters in them. Other than that I find nothing.

The scene depicted includes mounted soldiers with swords - but they seem to have broad rimmed hats. The other figures on it have pointed head gear. There are elephants - I think Asian as the ears seem smaller than that of an African elephant. The elephants also seem rather small in stature too. On the elephants there are seats or "saddles" that the passengers are sitting on. The passengers do not seem to be part of the battle. In fact they could be just some VIP being transported with an escort of soldiers. There is an interesting building that seems to have a slightly domed roof and big columns in front. The vegetation depicted feels tropical, there are palm tree type plants but I see no fruits on them. A two wheeled cart (that seems quite ornate in design) have more passengers - but this cart is being drawn by some animal that I don't think is a horse. It seems more like a bovine of some sort.

The glaze is thick in places and very high gloss. Where it has been applied in the thickest layers there are very fine cracks in the glaze if you hold it in the light. The detail is not exceptional, the figure having holes poked where the eyes and mouths are. So they all seem slightly startled!

Wow. Six hundred words are a lot. I hope I have not bored you too much. Close to where I live is a place called St Francis Bay. It is well known for attracting residents from all over the world. So does Jeffreys Bay (as a world-renowned surfing spot). I am telling you this as it has some influence on what you find in the charity shops. It is truly a "global village" feel. This jar can quite literally be from anywhere in the world.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. You must yawn reading through all of this.

Kind regards from sunny South Africa.

Ilse Clark