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The Pelican in her Piety
Potter: Simpson, Ralph
Earthenware dish slip trailed with the 'Pelican in her Piety' surrounded by a border of alternating bewigged male heads and spotted roundels, interrupted at the bottom by the name, 'RALPH : SIMPSON'.
Pinkish-buff earthenware, thrown, coated on the front with cream slip, and slip-trailed in medium and dark brown, and cream under lead-glaze; the reverse is undecorated. Circular with a wide steeply sloping rim, and a well with curved sides and flat centre. The well is occupied by a pelican facing to the viewer's right, with three chicks feeding at her breast. The space in front of the pelican's head is occupied by a stylized leaf, and below her tail is a four-petalled flower. The rim is decorated with six bewigged male heads alternating with five roundels enclosing a large central spot surrounded by eight smaller spots, except for one circle which has seven. The sequence is broken at the bottom by a rectangular panel enclosing the name 'RALPH : SIMPSON'. All the outlines, except for the five circles are 'jewelled' with trailed cream spots.
History note: A lady owner at New Malden; Sotheby's, 28 November 1924, lot 51a; purchased by Mr Stoner for £195 on behalf of Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge
Dr J. W. L. Glaisher Bequest
Diameter: 46.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
17th Century, Late
Circa
1670
-
1680
The pelican was believed to love its offspring so much that it revived then by feeding them on its own blood. On the basis of this legend, images of the pelican feeding its young from its own breast came to be regarded as a symbol of Christ's sacrifice on the Cross to save humanity from sin, and also as a symbol Christ's blood in the Eucharistic Sacrament. The name on the rim is probably that of the potter, Ralph Simpson (1651-1724) of Burslem, who was the son of John Simpson and brother of John II Simpson.
Front
composed of
lead-glaze
( clear yellowish)
Decoration
composed of
slip
( cream, red-brown and dark brown)
Height
Height 8.5 cm
pinkish buff where visible Earthenware
Throwing (pottery technique) : Pinkish buff earthenware, thrown, coated on the front with cream slip, and slip-trailed in medium and dark brown, and cream under yellowish lead-glaze; the reverse is undecorated
Inscription present: rectangular white paper stick on label with top corners cut and a Prussian blue line
Accession number: C.215-1928
Primary reference Number: 73163
Old object number: 4463
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 (2025) "The Pelican in her Piety" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/73163 Accessed: 2025-04-25 21:01:57
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/73163
|title=The Pelican in her Piety
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-04-25 21:01:57|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-73163
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa7/C_215_1928_281_29.jpg"
alt="The Pelican in her Piety"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">The Pelican in her Piety</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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