The pierced design of this puzzle jug or ‘pot trompeur’ means it would be impossible to pour liquid from the jug without spilling it, unless you figured out the puzzle. One handle is hollow, enclosing a channel which empties at one of the spouts. You can drink from it by covering the holes.

The earliest known puzzle jug is the Exeter puzzle jug, produced in France in ca. 1300, and in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter (accession no. 1899/10/1 ). They became popular in the early modern period as a drinking game.

The jug is decorated with reddish lustre in wheat ear motifs typical of Manises ware at the turn of the 16th century. The pseudo-Latin calligraphy is a garbled version of the opening of St. John's Gospel: In principio erat verbum. This inscription appears on Spanish ceramics in the late 15th century through to ca. 1530, becoming less legible overtime.

A very similar puzzle jug is in the Louvre, Paris (no. OAR 656). It is dated 1450–1500. It also has pierced decoration, but at the shoulder rather than the neck. There are four registers of inscription, simialrly a garbled version of 'in principio erat verbum'. It is 48 cm high, about double the size of our puzzle jug.

A vase with similar decoration and four handles is in the Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg (Ф-3881), 50 cm high. It is dated to the beginning of the 16th century and attributed to Valencia. It does not have any pierced decoration or holes in the spouts, so it is a regular vase rather than a puzzle jug.

Several dishes dating to ca. 1500 with similar floral motifs and pseudo-Latin inscription are held in museum collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum (accession no. 392-1893), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (object no. 56.171.80), and the Courtauld Gallery (accession no. O.1966.GP.116).