This small, highly decorated jug, likely for milk or ale, is inscribed ‘Hannah Robinson 1812’. When Dr Glaisher purchased it in 1909, he was told that Hannah had been given this jug when she married Gabriel Store, in 1812, probably at Burslem, Staffordshire. The imagery celebrates the production of grain, with verses from a traditional English ballad sung on Plough Monday, when farm labourers returned to work after Christmas and started ploughing. Although the song celebrates self-sufficiency, the jug is a promotion of work, with the motto ‘INDUSTRY PRODUCETH WEALTH’ reproduced twice.

Staffordshire, England, 1812

Lead-glazed earthenware with silver lustre, transfer-printed with pastoral scenes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest (C.774-1928)