Description:
Elongated gravy boat shape with spout and no handle, transfer printed in underglaze light blue with scenes of a couple and a seated man near two beehives in the rural countryside, form was used to feed pap or papulum (milk and bread) to sick people, underside transfer printed with pattern name "HUMPHREY'S CLOCK", in underglaze-blue and an incised X mark. Attributed to William Ridgway, Son & Co., circa 1840-45. Condition: The spout with very minor rubbing, and the back end with a small fracture on the rim edge and a minuscule chip issuing a tiny hair crack. This transfer printed scene was inspired by Charles Dickens’ book Master Humphrey’s Clock, which was serialized between 1840 and 1841. The stories were also published in book form in three volumes and included The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge. This printed scene depicts "Nell and Grandfather meet the Schoolmaster." A couple peer over the wall at a man who is seated, with head in hand, beside two beehives. "There was but one old man in the little garden before his cottage...Nell dropped a curtsy, and told him they were poor travellers who sought shelter for the night" (The Old Curiosity Shop ch.XVII). According to the research of Angela Grant, this pattern was made at Ridgway's Church Works and Cobden Works.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2023.4.5 |
