Q: I have a very tall slim jug, about 14 inches tall. It has a yellow background with trees on it, which look as if they were hand painted. On the base it has the name Radford.

Mrs A.

A. This vase dates from the 1930s and was one of many designs featuring either woodland or flowers from a firm founded by Edward Radford.

Born in the 1880s, he served with distinction in the First World War, being awarded the Military Cross, and after the First World War founded his own pottery in Stoke-on-Trent.

All the painting was done by hand and no two designs are ever quite the same which does make them of particular interest to collectors. This particular jug is worth about £200 or so, and most of his vases these days are worth between £100 and £200, though rarer pieces can fetch more.