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Jug 2008-91
Liverpool Jug
Jug 2008-91

Liverpool Jug

Dateca. 1805
Manufactured by Herculaneum
OriginEngland, Liverpool
MediumEarthenware, lead-glazed (creamware), transfer-printed, with black, green, blue, red, yellow, and gold.
DimensionsOverall: 10 13/16in. (27.5cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund
Object number2008-91
DescriptionCreamware jug decorated with prints in black, which have been painted in overglaze enamel colors including green, blue, red, yellow and gold. The print on one side is the popular memorial to Washington known as the "Apotheosis of Washington." The print appears in an oval medallion surmounted by an arc of seven winged cherub heads and beneath is a banner inscribed "APOTHEOSIS." The print itself shows the allegorical figures Immortality and Time lifting the shrouded Washington from his tomb. Mourners include an eagle, Faith, Hope, Charity, Liberty, and a Native American. The base of the tomb is inscribed "SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF WASHINGTON OB 14 DEC. A.D. AE 68." The print on the reverse is a stock print of a three-masted ship flying the American flag and pennant with the figurehead of a man in military uniform, inscribed "WILLIAMNEWBURYPORT" in gold. Beneath the spout is a print depicting an adaptation of the Great Seal of the United States which is above the faint inscription "William Pickett" in gold.
Label TextTransfer-printed creamware jugs were popular in America especially during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The Herculaneum pottery in Liverpool was particularly known for marketing their wares to an American audience by incorporating prints with themes relevant to the new Republic. This circa 1805 jug is a remarkable example of such a piece. Embellished on one side with a multicolored print of the ship, the William of Newburyport, in full sail and flying an American flag and on the other with an image of the Apotheosis of Washington, Colonial Williamsburg's Liverpool jug was clearly intended for an American owner. The Apotheosis print was first published by Simon Chaudron and John J. Barralet in Philadelphia in 1802 and soon thereafter appeared on many decorative art objects destined for the American market. Perhaps most remarkably, this jug survives with much of its original cold-applied gilding still intact.

William Pickett was captain of the 'William' of Newburyport in 1794 when she sailed to St. Petersburg, Russia, returning with a cargo of hemp.
MarkingsImpressed HERCULANEUM on base
ProvenancePurchased from Northeast Auctions in Portsmouth, New Hampshire at their Annual Marine, China Trade and Sporting Art Auction, August 15, 2008. Prior to that it was owned by S. Robert Teitelman who purchased it in April 1991 from Hyland Granby Antiques in Hyannisport, Massachusetts.