Jug
Production: Unknown
Pearlware, printed on glaze in black with a scene depicting freed slaves celebrating their emancipation. A central, mostly nude, male figure holds his arms aloft, flanked on either side by a woman with a young child (the woman on his left with a book by her side). To the right, another male figure holds aloft his former chains. The background shows a body of water with a ship and some Pyramids (?) in the distance. This scene is printed on both sides of the body of the jug. Beneath the rim (exterior and interior) is a floral border with a central cartouche showing miniature figures by the sea, a ship in the background - a white figure kneeling and offering something to a standing black figure. A group flying the Union Jack can be seen to the left and the figure of Britannia to the right.
History note: Robin Simpson; purchased at his sale, the Robin Simpson Collection of Commemorative Ceramics, Woolley & Wallis auction, 8 September 2021, lot 515.
Given by the Friends of The Fitzwilliam Museum
Height: 12.8 cm
Width: 15.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Bought (2021) by Woolley & Wallis The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum
19th Century, second quarter#
William IV
Production date:
circa
AD 1834
This jug depicts a number of formerly enslaved people joyfully celebrating the arrival of 1 August 1834, the date that the Abolition of Slavery Act finally came into force in the British Empire. Unlike many abolitionist ceramics, which depict enslaved people as powerless and grateful, this jug depicts enslaved people as joyful to be free of their bondage. Details, such as the inclusion of a book, also hint at more complex lives than those often depicted in art or on objects. In reality, the formerly enslaved in the British West Indies (over the age of six years old) were made to continue working for their former masters under an unpaid apprentice system lasting four to six years. This period ended prematurely on 1 August 1838, when full emancipation was granted for all enslaved people (see plate C.7-2021).
Decoration
composed of
ceramic printing colour
( black)
Surface
composed of
lead-glazing
Handle
white Earthenware
Inscription present: the capital letters are enclosed in a rectangular frame with incurved shoulders on top formed by two black lines, and below the date is a flower flanked by sprays of leaves
Inscription present: circular white paper stick-on label with border and printed text round the edge enclosing the lot number
Accession number: C.6-2021
Primary reference Number: 307500
Object entry form: 1556
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Jug" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/307500 Accessed: 2024-12-31 12:19:18
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/307500
|title=Jug
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-31 12:19:18|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-307500
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