Bronze Age Gold from Wales

Punch bowl, pale creamware, shallow hemispherical bowl standing on a tall footring, painted border inside the lip comprising a black band with a straight and waved line below. The interior is printed with a rustic scene in on-glaze black comprising a cottage with a porch, large central smoking chimney and a thatched roof; benches on either side of the door, also a lower outbuilding with three beehives, fence and trees; in the foreground a lady seated on a bench and a man leaning on a staff talking to her, beside them a small boy and girl at play, a wheelbarrow, a sow and her litter at a trough, and a cock and hen scratching the ground. Beneath this print the inscription ' FRANCOISE DE VLOO / JOANE DE VLOO / Liverpool 1781'. Round the interior are six different detached flower sprays printed in on-glaze black (see Reilly, 1989, pl.224B). The outside of the bowl bears the following on-glaze prints (1) ' A pilot cutter and a schooner from the starboard bow' (Ray, 1973 [1], pl.43 no.C1-6), (2) two standing ladies, both in brocade dresses, cut from the print ' three ladies by a fountain (Ray, 1973 [2], no.715) (3) 'The sailor's farewell' (Ray, 1973 [2], 675) (4) a pastoral scene with a ruined church in front of which stand two men, one with a scythe over his shoulder and a boy clutching his jacket, while a woman and a baby sit alongside, hills and trees in the background (5) 'The sailor's return' (Ray, 1973 [2], 679).