Description:
Lathe trimmed, thrown jug; bulbous body with coved collar/neck; applied v-shaped spout; applied handle; covered entirely with a yellow glaze; decorated with overglaze red enamel and black bands; painted black bands located just below the rim of the jug, base of the neck, and edge of the base of the jug; one side of the body of the jug contains a red transfer printed "Courtship" scene with a caption that reads: "COURTSHIP / In courtship Strephon careful hands his Lass / Over a stile a child with ease might pass"; the opposite side contains a red lettered inscription surrounded by a foliate boarder that reads: "To my best my friends are free / Free with that and free with me / Free to pass the harmless joke / And the tube sedately smoke / Free to drink just what they please / As at home and at their ease / Free to speak and free to think / No informers with me drink / Free to stay a night or so / When uneasy free to go"; an additional inscription below the spout with a foliate boarder reads: "When this you see / Remember me / And Keep me in your mind / Let all the World / Say what they will / Speak of me as you find"; the underside of the jug contains two white labels; one label reads "$XXX"; the other label reads "#133 / yellow ware / jug / c. 1820"; the underside of the jug also possess a black mark that reads "T04"; Condition: crack just below the tip of the spout; loss of yellow glaze on the neck of the jug. The name "Strephon" was adopted in the 18th century as the traditional masculine name used for the male lover in pastoral poetry. A print called Courtship by C. Sheppard, St. Peter's Hill, Doctor's Common, 1792, is similar but not identical to this transfer print.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2017.5.2 |
