LONDON (The Associated Press)—A small town museum said yesterday it has received funding to buy a medieval jug important to the study of bronze-working of the era.

Luton Museum Services said it had received £590,000 ($1 million) from Britain's lottery-funded National Heritage Memorial Fund, bringing it to within a couple of thousand pounds of the 750,000 pounds ($1.3 million) price of the Wenlok Jug.

The museum north of London, which has just £2,500 ($4,500) a year to spend on new exhibitions, has already been given funding by the National Art Collections Fund and friends and supporters.

"We now have just a small amount to raise in the next three weeks to make up the full amount but as we've had significant interest from elsewhere, we are confident we'll be bringing the jug home to Luton," said museum service
manager Maggie Appleton.

The 12.2-inch (31-centimeter) bronze tankard, which dates from the 14th or 15th century, bears an inscription to "My Lord Wenlok," thought to refer to one of two men connected with Luton.

It was sold by Sotheby's last year on behalf of Lord Hesketh, and was later offered to New York's Metropolitan Museum by London art dealer Daniel Katz.

But in October, Culture Minister David Lammy put a temporary export ban on it, after experts ruled it was of "outstanding significance" for the ongoing study of bronze-working in medieval England.

"This intriguing jug, with its royal crest and dedication to 'my Lord Wenlok,' offers a rare insight into the medieval world and into the fascinating life of John, Lord Wenlock," said Stephen Johnson, head of the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

The jug's inscription could refer to William Wenlock, who died in 1391 and held the posts of Canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, Archdeacon of Rochester and Canon of the King's Chapel, Westminster.

Or it could signify his nephew John, who died in 1471, having served every king from Henry V to Edward IV.

Both men had estates in Luton.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press