Jack on a Cruise
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The transfers on this page are after an engraving by Robert Sayer in 1782. The subject was taken up by the Staffordshire potters as early as 1785 (see here for a fabulous Ralph Wood plaque on my friend Myrna's website).
Account books show that an engraver called Thomas Bewick was commissioned by Christopher and John Maling of the Hylton Pottery to make a plate titled 'Jack on a Cruise' on 14 April 1788 for £1 1s 0d (see Beverley Ruffell, The Malings and North Hylton Pottery). However, the subject continued to remain popular until the 1830s, and appears on pink-lustre items attributable to Scott's Southwick Pottery.
Most of the items are unmarked, so we may never know which is Thomas Bewick's version. Some, however, do have engravers' signatures, and in at least one case, a factory mark – for Moore and Austin's Southwick Union Pottery.
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To the right, a canary yellow jug and a creamware mug with the Neo Classical building and pedestal seen in the original print. These items are likely from the last quarter of the 18th century, and may have originated in Staffordshire. |
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Jack on a Cruise – landscape with inn
Unidentified pottery
In many of the North East versions of the transfer, the Neo Classical backdrop is replaced by a run-down and rather disreputable looking inn with vegetation sprouting from the roof. Perhaps a landscape that sailors could more readily identify with. The woman, presumably of easy virtue, is pointing Jack to the Inn.
On this version there are more birds on the outer left side of the transfer. There is a branch on the left of the tree that almost touches the woman's back. The word 'there' is spelt 'thire' and the end of the caption reads 'Mainsail' rather than 'Maintopsail'.
Unidentified pottery
The subject is similar to the later (1830s) Robert Maling-attributed jug below, titled 'Any port in a storm, my old boy'.
The mug below has the same transfer as the one above, but also a rather coy looking frog, which might help us one day to identify the pottery. Note that the sail on the ship seems less heavily shaded than those above and below.
A monochrome mug with the transfer. The mug has a broader foot than those above.
Unidentified pottery
These two mugs appear to come from the same transfer plate. They are similar to the version above but the flags on the top of the masts on the ship aren't square.
Unidentified pottery
This version appears to be a simplified copy of the transfer above. The shading of the sail of the ship is different to the two versions above.
Attributed to the Bridge End Pottery, Sunderland
It is hard to see the full transfer in these photos, but the chimney suggests it is the inn rather than the church in this version. Bell (Tyneside Potter) decodes the signature as 'Barker H, North Shore' (in Newcastle) which likely refers to the location of the engraver rather than the potter. The Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums catalogue attributes the item to the 'Bridge End Pottery (probably)'.
Attributed to North Shields
Photo Bearnes, Hampton and Littlewood
Sadly, I don't have a better photo of this jug, but the lustre decoration and enamelling suggest it was made at the Low Lights Pottery in North Shields, likely by the Cornfoot, Carr and Co partnership of the mid 1830s.
Jack on a Cruise – landscape with church on left
J Phillips, Sunderland Pottery
In this version of the transfer, the inn is replaced by the church, adding a moral element to Jack's seduction and the likely consequences.
The same transfer on a creamware tankard.
The second tankard below, with coloured over-enamels, is from the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.
Southwick Union Pottery
The Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums catalogue gives a date of 1810 for this item. Baker says that sometime after 1805 Samuel Moore and Peter Austin took over the pottery, so the mug likely falls within that period.
Attributed to Scott & Sons, Southwick Pottery
This version of the transfer is attributed to the Scott and Sons partnership at Southwick, which Baker says ran from 1829 to 1841. The last two images below are of a jug with a distinctive flower motif around the collar. These collars appear on jugs with transfers inscribed 'Scott Southwick'.
Jack on a Cruise – landscape with church on right
Unidentified pottery
In this version, the image is reversed with Jack on the left and the church on the right. There's also a windmill in the background. The right jug, from the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, has a portrait of Nelson on the reverse.
Attributed to Robert Maling, Ouseburn Bridge Pottery
A different rendering of the subject with the church on the right. In this more innocent version Jack appears to be leading the girl to the church. The decoration is typical of Robert Maling in the early 1830s.
Jack on a Cruise – landscape with inn and castle
Attributed to Phillips & Co, Sunderland – 1807–1812 or
Dixon, Austin, Phillips and Co –1813–1818
This transfer, with an inn on the left again, rather than a church, and a castle in the background, is signed by the engraver 'Downing Sculp'. Downing's signature appears on later jugs by Dixon, Austin & Co. This jug, of an early ovoid form, is attributed to the Sunderland Pottery on that basis.
Attributed to Scott & Sons, Southwick Pottery
This transfer is attributed to Scott on the basis of the similarity of decoration to the Scott-attributed mug above above. The transfer is signed by the engraver 'T Atkinson Sculp'.
