Art Collections Online
Date: 1814
Media: earthenware
Size: h(cm) : 14 x l(cm) : 15.3 x w(cm) : 13.2,h(cm) : 1
Acquired: 1953; Bequest; Ernest Morton Nance
Accession Number: NMW A 30680
Collection: Ernest Morton Nance Collection
This jug was made to commemorate Napoleon's abdication and subsequent exile to the island of Elba, off the coast of Italy, in 1814. It is inscribed around the rim inscribed 'BONAPARTE DETHRON'D April 1st 1814' (altering the actual date by a few days to land on April Fool's Day). The jug is transfer printed with a lively scene of men and women celebrating Napoleon's downfall. Napoleon stands in chains at the centre of the composition, waiting to be taken away by the Devil and exclaiming 'Oh Cursed Ambition what hast thou brought me to Now'.
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