43 - JUG: probably Staffordshire or Liverpool, c. 1810–20

Summary

Yellow-glazed earthenware decorated with black transfer-prints inscribed ‘FAITH’, ‘HOPE’ and ‘CHARITY’, and banded with ‘silver’ lustre. Height 16.4 cm. C.1–1970.

Yellow-glazed earthenware was made between about 1785 and 1835 but apparently only in small amounts, as it is one of the least common types of English pottery. Most major English collections have a few pieces, but by far the best place to see it is the National Museum of History and Technology in Washington DC, where there is a splendid collection formed by Eleanor and Jack L.Leon.

The opaque glaze, which gained its brilliant yellow from antimony, was usually applied to a cream-coloured or white body. Figures were often left plain yellow. Tablewares were usually decorated with lustre, enamels or transfer-printing in black or other colours, singly or in combinations. The enamelled decoration can be startlingly gaudy, but a greater degree of sophistication was achieved with lustre-resist patterns or black prints with lustre banding. The prints of Faith, Hope and Charity on this jug are among those which occur most frequently.

The few marked examples of yellow-glazed ware show that it was made in most of the important ceramic centres in England and Wales. Manufacturers included Enoch Wood, Davenport, Shorthose and Spode in Staffordshire; the Leeds and Swinton Potteries in Yorkshire; the Herculaneum Pottery at Liverpool; the Cambrian Pottery in Swansea and several firms in Sunderland and Tyneside.