The history of the Auldjo Jug 1830–60 – a review and critique

The so-called ‘Auldjo Jug’ is one of the important artefacts from Pompeii in the British Museum. The lower part and the upper part of the cameo glass jug came to the Museum from two British owners as a result of a purchase and a bequest. Exactly how the parts came into the possession of the seller (Dr Hogg) and the bequeather (Miss Auldjo) has not been clearly established. Current theory proposes that the two British owners received the jug pieces from two different sources at different times, but does not explain convincingly how, when and why the two British owners might have come into possession of the jug pieces. In this paper, an alternative theory is proposed: that Sir Walter Scott, when he visited in Naples in 1832, was presented with all the excavated pieces, and that he then, on his departure, divided the fragments and passed them on to two people in Naples with whom he was closely acquainted.