Description:

Pearlware jug, Printed in purple by Francis Morris of Shelton, Staffordshire, England.

Remarkable for its size and range of decorative designs, this is one of few surviving jugs that appear to have been made for display purposes.  There are 35 individual prints on the piece with large and medium size examples on the body, small prints on the exterior and interior of the neck and...

Description:

Pearlware jug, Printed in purple by Francis Morris of Shelton, Staffordshire, England.

Remarkable for its size and range of decorative designs, this is one of few surviving jugs that appear to have been made for display purposes.  There are 35 individual prints on the piece with large and medium size examples on the body, small prints on the exterior and interior of the neck and lip and a medium size print on the interior base.  Three of the larger prints include the inscription F. Morris Shelton.

The prints are of various subjects including genre scenes, classical and allegorical subjects, groups of maritime shells, a set of Faith Hope and Charity, and on the interior of the base a print entitled The Hearty Good Fellow.  The largest prints are those designed to appeal to the American market, the two signed prints are Washington Crowned by Liberty and Washington and Franklin with a Map of the Eastern Seaboard.  Other American subjects include an American Eagle, The Memory of WASHINGTON and the Proscribed PATRIOTS of AMERICA, a Chain of States encircling the poem O Liberty Thou Goddess, Success to AMERICA whose MILITIA is better than standing ARMIES.

Whether this piece stood in a workshop in Staffordshire so potters could see how well Morris printed pottery or whether it stood in a shop in Liverpool for patrons to custom-order their wares, or even made its way to America to secure custom for Morris, we may never know.