The stylized brown decoration on this pitcher, possibly intended to suggest a flower, was a motif used by the Owen Sound Pottery to mark its wares. Samuel Brownscombe, in partnership with John Horning, founded the pottery in Owen Sound, Ontario, and it manufactured a wide range of products between 1895 and 1907. Previously, Samuel had carried on with the family pottery at Kinloss Township in Bruce County until 1892, following the death of his father (John) in the 1880s. Samuel was the grandson of John Brownscombe Sr., the family patriarch who came to Canada from England in 1843.